Recent nanomaterials development and application in diffusive gradients in thin-film devices

Many contaminants have been released into the environment in recent times, requiring the need to investigate these compounds presence, impact, and destination in different environmental compartments. The use of ex situ techniques is quite common; however, in this type of analysis, the distribution and characteristics of the chemical species present can be altered. A choice to avoid such problems is to use passive sampling based on diffusive gradients in thin-films (DGT), an in situ technique developed to measure labile concentrations, species, and distribution of various solutes in soil, sediment, and water. One of the focuses applied to these materials is finding, testing, and validating new binding layers to increase the range of target analytes for these devices. Among the materials that can be tested, the nanomaterials, compared with conventional binding agents, have excellent adsorptive capabilities due to their properties, such as high specific surface area. In this context, in this review, we will present the recent developments in samplers that have their configurations modified using nanomaterials as binding agents for application in aqueous systems. Graphical abstract