Recent progress in 3D and 4D printing in analytical chemistry with a focus on sample preparation

Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, is an emerging fabrication technique that allows the creation of 3D structures of various shapes. Users can benefit from the variety of appropriate materials, from polymeric plastics to concrete or metal. That further predetermines this technology for application in the whole spectrum of scientific fields, including analytical chemistry. An integral part of the analytical process is sample preparation, which mainly enhances the overall analytical system's selectivity and/or sensitivity. Unfortunately, the preparative step is still considered a bottleneck of the analytical procedure. That further shows the necessity of developing new preparative approaches that alleviate the extreme consumption of the experimental time, facilitate the operational demands, and decrease the number of operational steps. 3D printing can contribute significantly to developing simplified sample preparation systems, lab-on-a-chips, and new materials. This review summarized the progress between 2020 and 2024 in 3D printing applied in analytical sample preparation.