Carbon Nanotubes Application in the Extraction Techniques of Pesticides: A Review

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are currently one of the most promising groups of materials with some interesting properties, such as lightness, rigidity, high surface area, high mechanical strength in tension, good thermal conductivity or resistance to mechanical damage. These unique properties make CNTs a competitive alternative to conventional sorbents used in analytical chemistry, especially in extraction techniques. The amount of work that discusses the usefulness of CNTs as a sorbent in a variety of extraction techniques has increased significantly in recent years. In this review article, the most important feature and different applications of solid-phase extraction (SPE), including, classical SPE and dispersive SPE using CNTs for pesticides isolation from different matrices, are summarized. Because of high number of articles concerning the applicability of carbon materials to extraction of pesticides, the main aim of proposed publication is to provide updated review of the latest uses of CNTs by covering the period 2006-2015. Moreover, in this review, the recent papers and this one, which are covered in previous reviews, will be addressed and particular attention has been paid on the division of publications in terms of classes of pesticides, in order to systematize the available literature reports.