CAPILLARY ELECTROPHORESIS METHODS DEVELOPMENT AND SENSITIVITY ENHANCEMENT STRATEGIES FOR THE SEPARATION OF INDUSTRIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICALS

This paper focuses on capillary electrophoresis (CE) methods developme nt and sensitivity enhancement strategies for the separation of charge d and neutral species of interest to industrial and environmental labo ratories. Areas addressed include: (a) free solution and micellar elec trokinetic capillary chromatography (MECC) methods development strateg ies; (b) the use of coated capillaries with MECC and reversed polarity to improve separation speed; (c) size separation using a sieving poly mer; (d) the use of specific and selective detection techniques to det ect environmentally important analytes and metabolites; (e) automated sample concentration techniques to enhance sensitivity by >1000X. Nume rous analyte classes are used to illustrate solutions for industrial a nd environmental problems. These classes include chlorinated phenols, phenoxy acid herbicides, aromatic acids, isomerized alpha- and beta-ho p acids, nitroaromatic and nitramine compounds, acidic dyes, linear be nzene alkyl sulfonates (LAS), inorganic anions, and charged polymers. Procedures to improve resolution and selectivity are discussed along w ith methods to enhance sensitivity of detection. Finally, unified meth ods development strategies to separate and detect analytes in the indu strial and environmental setting are described.