Chemiluminescence detection for capillary electrophoresis and microchip capillary electrophoresis

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) has become a very important micro-analytical method in many fields, such as biology, biomedicine, and environmental and food sciences. However, the small injection volume makes it a challenge to achieve high-sensitivity detection. CE and microchip capillary electrophoresis (MCE) coupled with chemiluminescence (CL) detection have certain advantages from combining the high separation efficiency of CE with the high sensitivity of CL. To date, CE-CL and MCE-CL systems have been used successfully for separating metal ions, amino acids, biomarkers, and bio-macromolecules, such as proteins, enzymes and DNA fragments. In this article, we give an overview on the methodological aspects of CL detection with CE and MCE systems, summarize key applications, and discuss future prospects. (C) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.