Miniaturisation: a well-defined trend in separation and preconcentration techniques

An overview of the state-of-the-art on miniaturisation concerning the different types of separation techniques is presented. Four groups of these techniques can be distinguished: Chromatographic techniques, including capillary electrophoresis; non-chromatographic continuous separation techniques; discontinuous separation techniques and coupled techniques. The shortcomings encountered in the development of these techniques and the advantages and disadvantages are discussed in this paper. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.