Advances in ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents-based liquid phase microextraction of metals for sample preparation in Environmental Analytical Chemistry

Abstract

Liquid phase micro-extraction (LPME) of metals has showed its potential for sample preparation in environmental analysis. In particular, the incorporation of ionic liquids to LPME (IL-LPME) has gotten increasing interest due to their unique properties as organic salts liquid at room temperature. In the last years, IL-LPME of metals has evolved to more efficient and selective extraction methods thanks to the development of task specific ionic liquids, and deep eutectic solvents. ILs have been implemented in the main LPME modalities: SDME, DLLME and HFLPME, resulting in new versions of these techniques. In this review we have analyzed and discussed the latest developments done in IL-LPME of metals, their advantages and limitations, as well as the potential fields of future development.