Abstract: Photonic crystals, originally created to control the transmission of light, have found their increasing value in the field of analytical chemistry and are probable to become a hot research area soon. This review is hence composed, focusing on their analytical chemistry-oriented applications, including especially their use in chromatography, capillary- and chip-based electrophoresis.

Key words: applications , basic theory and concept, optical sensors, preparation, separation and analysis, photonic crystals