Introduction of Solid-Phase Microextraction

Abstract

The simplification of tedious sample preparation procedures and the integration of sampling and convenient introduction of extracted components to analytical instruments are significant challenges in contemporary analytical chemistry. As a solvent-free and green equilibrium-based sample preparation technique developed by Janusz Pawliszyn in 1990, solid-phase microextraction (SPME) requires only a small volume of adsorbent as the extraction phase and can integrate sampling, isolation, and enrichment into one step. The flexibility of SPME in design, geometry, and calibration strategies makes it a prior choice for the applications in various fields, especially in environmental and life sciences. In this chapter, the fundamentals and practical information about SPME are introduced and discussed, which is supposed to be helpful for readers to explore the following chapters.