D. Belder et al., Directed control of electroosmotic flow in nonaqueous electrolytes using poly(ethylene glycol) coated capillaries, ELECTROPHOR, 22(4), 2001, pp. 666-672
Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-coated capillaries exhibit unique properties in
nonaqueous electrolytes. Immobilized PEG interacts significantly with diff
erent cations present in nonaqueous electrolytes. This can induce a positiv
e surface charge on PEG-coated capillaries and results in an adjustable ano
dic electroosmotic flow (EOF) in nonaqueous electrolytes whereas a reduced
cathodic EOF is observed in aqueous electrolytes. The EOF can reversibly be
adjusted by the variation of the electrolyte constitution, namely the type
of the solvent used and the nature and concentration of background cations
. In methanol and especially in acetonitrile electrolytes the magnitude and
also the direction of EOF is strongly dependent on the water content. Usin
g different alkali metal cations, the EOF can be increased, reduced, or eve
n reversed depending on the nature of the cation. The directed manipulation
of EOF in methanolic electrolytes using PEG-coated capillaries was applied
for optimization of nonaqueous capillary electrophoretic separations of ac
idic compounds with regard to reproducibility, resolution, and analysis tim
e.