New trends in solid-phase extraction

Solid-phase extraction using cartridge and disc devices is a widely used sample-preparation technique for isolation, concentration, clean-up and medium exchange. To meet the varied needs of contemporary applications, there is available an ever-increasing range of sorbent chemistries based on inorganic oxides, low-specificity (chemically bonded, porous polymer and carbon) and compound and group-selective (ion exchange, mixed mode, macrocyclic, restricted access, immunoaffinity and molecularly imprinted polymer) materials. Advanced device formats facilitate processing of problem samples combined with a high level of automation. Approaches to computer-aided method development promise to replace tedious trial-and-error procedures with fast simulations based on suitable kinetic and retention models. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.