Abstract: As a product of incomplete combustion of biomass and fossil fuels, black carbon has an important impact on many fields such as climate change, health, environment and carbon cycle. For a long time, δ¹³C and Δ¹⁴C analysis have been widely used in black carbon source analysis, and the effective separation and purification of black carbon is the key to accurately determine its isotopes. This article systematically sorts out the current black carbon separation and detection technologies based on δ¹³C and Δ¹⁴C analysis, and details the development process and advantages and disadvantages of each method. Among them, the improved thermo-optical method has become an effective means for rapid determination of black carbon δ¹³C and Δ¹⁴C due to its small relative error and high repeatability; and the catalytic hydrogenation method is considered to be an ideal method for black carbon separation due to its strong stability and no influence of the matrix. The article also points out that in order to judge the reliability of different testing techniques, it is urgent to develop black carbon δ¹³C and Δ¹⁴C standard substances suitable for various methods; in addition, it is also crucial to improve the standardization of each method and enhance the comparability of data between different laboratories. These insights are intended to promote the further improvement of black carbon research methods and provide valuable references for future research in related fields.