ABSTRACT

Miniaturization in chemical analysis involves downscaling of already existing analytical systems or development of new micro-or nano-scaled analytical systems. Miniaturization is a rapidly growing research area as a result of the most recent fields of interest and demands in chemical analysis, for example, limited/ small sample volumes, low sample amounts, trace analysis, and high-throughput analysis. Applications of miniaturized analytical systems are found in widely spread research areas, such as genomics, proteomics (1), biomedicine, pharmaceutical industry, and food chemistry. Although not a necessity in many analyses, miniaturization has several advantages which most analyses may benefit from, for example, low solvent and sample consumption (environmentally friendly), short analysis times, and often a high detection sensitivity.