title: Recent trends in nanomaterial-based microanalytical systems for the speciation of trace elements: A critical review.
abstract: Trace element speciation in biomedical and environmental science has gained increasing attention over the past decade as researchers have begun to realize its importance in toxicological studies. Several nanomaterials, including titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nano-TiO2), carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), have been used as sorbents to separate and preconcentrate trace element species prior to detection through mass spectrometry or optical spectroscopy. Recently, these nanomaterial-based speciation techniques have been integrated with microfluidics to minimize sample and reagent consumption and simplify analyses. This review provides a critical look into the present state and recent applications of nanomaterial-based microanalytical systems in the speciation of trace elements. The adsorption and preconcentration efficiencies, sample volume requirements, and detection limits of these nanomaterial-based speciation techniques are detailed, and their applications in environmental and biological analyses are discussed. Current perspectives and future trends into the increasing use of nanomaterial-based microfluidic techniques for trace element speciation are highlighted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, Fooyin University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wei-Chang
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Keng-Chang
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Christopher Stephen
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Shiea
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Research Center for Environmental Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Chemistry, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan. Electronic address: yelihu@kmu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Yeou-Lih
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; C009495:titanium dioxide; D014025:Titanium
keywords: Microanalytical systems; Nanomaterials; Speciation; Trace elements