One new area is the development and implementation of chromatographic methodologies in the separation and isolation of nanomaterials. In the quest to discover new nanomaterials, soot matrices and their extracts from electric-arc plasma reactors contain an array of novel structures with unique molecular architectures. It will be necessary to develop new separation and purification protocols for their discovery, isolation and characterization. Other complex mixtures to separate include organic reaction products involving the metallic nitride fullerenes. Isolation of these functionalized fullerenes is important in the development of new application areas for these metallic nitride species.

The second new research area in analytical chemistry is mainly associated with electrochemistry, electroanalytical chemistry, surface chemistry, and bioanalytical chemistry. A variety of electrochemical techniques, such as scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM), electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL), are applied to the study of chemical and biological problems. Ultrasensitive biosensors based on ECL technology for the analysis and detection of DNA and proteins, e.g., antibodies and antigens, are currently being investigated.

The final area focuses on using quartz microbalances to detect specific DNA fragments. This is accomplished by binding the target DNA to the surface of a quartz electrode. The complementary pair can hybridize to the target and increase the mass, which the balance can detect.