Separation of unmodified polystyrene nanosphere standards by capillary zone electrophoresis

Size separation of five unmodified polystyrene nanosphere standards with di ameters between 50 and 600 nm has been achieved in phosphate buffer solutio ns as carrier electrolyte. The electrophoretic mobility increases with part icle diameter. Optical spectra was shown to be different for particles of d ifferent size. Effects of injection time, applied voltage, pH, and phosphat e concentration in carrier electrolyte on particle separation were studied. Under optimal conditions the peak efficiency ranged from 600 to 10 500 the oretical plate numbers depending on nanosphere diameter was achieved. (C) 2 000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.