Prospects for detection and sensitivity enhancement of inorganic ions in capillary electrophoresis

While capillary electrophoresis (CE) is now a well established technique fo r the determination of inorganic ions, the current sensitivity Limitations of the method are an evident obstacle to progress. The advances in CE metho dology to compensate for these limitations are reviewed in this paper with particular attention payed to non-absorbance-based detection techniques. Re cently developed detection modes for inorganic cationic and anionic species are compared in terms of applicability, effects on separation efficiency, costs and manufacturing concerns. A comprehensive survey of sensitivity enh ancements based on on-capillary and pre-electrophoresis concentration techn iques and on chemical derivatization is also presented along with the most typical application examples. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science BN. All rights rese rved.