Review of Microfluidic Liquid–Liquid Extractors

During the last few decades, microfluidic liquid–liquid extractors have been developed to address the need for separating solutes in analytical chemistry and efficiently recovering products in microfluidic reactors. This review classifies the various microfluidic liquid–liquid extractors into three major groups based on their flow arrangement: stop-flow microfluidic extractors (MEs), cocurrent MEs, and countercurrent MEs. Each group is further classified into several subcategories based on flow pattern and/or working principle. The review focuses on how to establish these three groups of microfluidic liquid–liquid extractors, including the difficulties and corresponding solutions for establishing these MEs, as well as their advantages and disadvantages. The review ends with conclusions and the outlook of the field.