This topical review will provide a survey of the current state of the art in ‘hyphenated’ techniques
for characterisation of bulk materials, surface, and interfaces, whereby two or more analytical
methods investigating different properties are applied simultaneously to the same sample to better
characterise the sample than can be achieved by conducting separate analyses in series using
different instruments. It is intended for final year undergraduates and recent graduates, who may
have some background knowledge of standard analytical techniques, but are not familiar with
‘hyphenated’ techniques or hybrid instrumentation. The review will begin by defining
‘complementary’, ‘hybrid’ and ‘hyphenated’ techniques, as there is not a broad consensus among
analytical scientists as to what each term means. The motivating factors driving increased
development of hyphenated analytical methods will also be discussed. This introduction will conclude
with a brief discussion of gas chromatogra…