Supercritical fluid extraction in separation and preconcentration of organic and inorganic species

Abstract Nowadays, there is an increasing interest in developing processes based on the Green Chemistry Principles. Among the recently established green extraction methods, supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) has been extensively employed to obtain desired analytes from many different matrices. Supercritical fluids with their unique physical properties can be useful for the extraction step and subsequent separation process. SFE is generally applied for the extraction of nonpolar organic compounds following offline or online approaches. This process also can be useful for recovery of polar analytes with the aid of modifiers. SFE has been widely recognized as a green sample preparation technique that can be coupled directly to analytical instrumental techniques. Herein, the general properties and instrumental of SFE technique are described. In addition, applications of the mentioned extraction technique for analyzing environmental samples, food, and herbal compounds, as well as drug and biological fluids, are briefly discussed.