Display omitted •Eight types of functional materials in the field of chiral CE are covered.•The application modes of these materials are systematically classified.•Parallel comparisons of different types of functional materials are presented.•A technical summary of functional materials in chiral CE is given.•A literature database on this topic is provided for readers to use. Researchers in the field of chiral science have been endeavoring to develop high-performance analytical methods for enantioseparations. The inherent flexibility of capillary electrophoresis (CE) provides a unique platform for scientists to come up with innovative ideas. In reviewing the literature of the past years, it is not difficult to notice that the application of various functional materials in chiral CE has attracted considerable attention of researchers. A search performed using databases (Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar) for journal reports using the terms “Chiral CE” & “Materials” returned approximately 300 publications (since 2010). The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the development and state-of-the-art of various advanced functional materials in chiral CE. Rather than exhaustively listing all the applications, this review concentrates on innovative concepts, and highlights significant progress and issues in this field, especially in the past decade. Coverage includes the most representative types of advanced functional materials such as ionic liquids (ILs), deep-eutectic solvents (DESs), nanoparticles (NPs), molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), metal organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent organic frameworks (COFs) and some other advanced porous organic materials.