Emergence of microfluidic devices in sample extraction; an overview of diverse methodologies, principals, and recent advancements

The advent of chip technology and microfluidics has largely impacted the area of analytical chemistry towards development of more efficient, cost-effective, user- and environmentally friendly analytical devices. So far, diverse analytical platforms based on various device designs have been developed for different analytical applications and the area is still growing very quickly. Considering sample preparation/extraction as one of the most important steps of an analytical assay, microfluidic sample preparative devices have been emerged. These devices have been widely developed over the past decades paving a new way towards efficient analyte isolation and facile integration with various detection methods, while keeping matrix effect, analysis cost, and user-intervention at minimum. Such extensive development is mainly due to the fascinating features of microfluidic devices such as lower amounts of required reagents and samples, faster analysis, more feasibility of integration and automation, as well as providing desirable functionalities through innovation in device design. Herein, we intend to provide a comprehensive overview on exploitation of microfluidic devices in sample extraction covering all aspects of design, fabrication, operation, and different extraction methods as well as the challenges and developing motifs for future studies. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.