Recent Applications of Carbon Nanotubes as Sorbents for the Extraction of Pharmaceutical Residues

Sample preparation is a crucial step in the analytical process. The solid phase absorbents attracted more interest in research on the preparation of samples, because they have a crucial role in achieving a high effectiveness of the purification and enrichment in the analysis of trace compounds present in complex matrices. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) exhibit unique properties for a variety of processes and applications. The combination of structure, dimensions and topology allow for their use in Analytical Chemistry, primarily as a matrix in a matrix assisted laser desorption ionization, stationary phase in both gas chromatography (GC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and as sorbents in solid phase extraction (SPE). The aim of this review is to provide a broad overview of recent applications of CNTs for the isolation of pharmaceuticals from environmental, biological and food samples before chromatographic analysis, in the period from 2006 to 2015.