Advances in organic-inorganic hybrid sorbents for the extraction of organic and inorganic pollutants in different types of food and environmental samples

Abstract

The efficiency of the extraction and removal of pollutants from food and the environment has been an important issue in analytical science. By incorporating inorganic species into an organic matrix, a new material known as an organic–inorganic hybrid material is formed. As it possesses high selectivity, permeability, and mechanical and chemical stabilities, organic–inorganic hybrid materials constitute an emerging research field and have become popular to serve as sorbents in various separaton science methods. Here, we review recent significant advances in analytical solid-phase extraction employing organic–inorganic composite/nanocomposite sorbents for the extraction of organic and inorganic pollutants from various types of food and environmental matrices. The physicochemical characteristics, extraction properties, and analytical performances of sorbents are discussed; including morphology and surface characteristics, types of functional groups, interaction mechanism, selectivity and sensitivity, accuracy, and regeneration abilities. Organic–inorganic hybrid sorbents combined with extraction techniques are highly promising for sample preparation of various food and environmental matrixes with analytes at trace levels.