New developments in separation science will help to contribute to the democratisation of analytical chemistry

[Display omitted] •Miniaturising separation science instruments provides technologies for smart sensors.•These sensors have a reduced ecological footprint.•The cost of the sensors is low resulting simple and robust instruments.•A nonexpert can build the sensors, which would be useful in citizen science. New developments in separation science demonstrate that instrumentation has reduced significantly in size and complexity in recent years. Implementing various miniature sensors (like contactless conductivity or LED-based optical) as detectors and automatisation of their operation through microcontrollers, one can talk about a new type of analytical instrumentation: smart sensors. Such new instruments would become useful for citizen science due to lack of sophistication of their construction (do-it-yourself feature) and ease of operation. In this respect, two separation techniques are especially promising: sensor gas chromatography and capillary electrophoresis. As an added value, the miniature instruments meet most of the criteria of green analytical chemistry, thus helping to make our world more sustainable.