The analysis of organic compounds in aqueous environmen tal, biomedical, food and fragrance matrices is normally performed after extraction and enrichment of the solutes from the matrix (drinking water, waste water, body fluids, beverages,…). Most used sample preparation methods are based on liquid-gas extraction or equilibrium (purge and trap, headspace), liquid-liquid extraction or solid phase extraction (SPE).
During the past years, miniaturisation has become a dominant trend in analytical chemistry. Typical examples of miniaturisation in sample preparation techniques are micro liquid-liquid extraction (in-vial extraction), ambient static headspace and disk cartridge SPE. In combination with state-of-the-art analytical instrumentation, this resulted in faster analysis, higher sample throughput, lower solvent consumption, less manpower in sample preparation while maintaining or even improving sensitivity.
