Application trends of nanofibers in analytical chemistry

Nanofibers are solid fibers with diameters ranging from a few to hundreds of nanometers and lengths up to several meters. Nanofibers can offer many attractive properties, such as high specific surface area and large aspect ratio, and satisfy some special needs of analytical chemistry using different functionalization and modification methods. Nanofibers have been applied in different analytical techniques and processes, including optical analysis (colorimetery, fluorescence, chemiluminescence, surface-enhanced Raman scattering), ultra-thin layer chromatography, mass spectrometry ionization techniques, electrochemical analysis, sample preparation techniques, gas sensors and biological sensors. The trends and advances of application techniques based on nanofibers and the corresponding synthesis or derivatization methods were summarized and compared according to the survey of more than 1100 articles in recent two decades. The challenges and prospects of nanofiber-based applications in analytical chemistry were also addressed finally. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.