Effect of a soluble ionic polymer on the separation of anions by capillary electrophoresis

A silica capillary for CE analysis of anions can be conditioned with NaOH, rinsed with water, coated with a cationic polymer, and equilibrated with the background electrolyte in only 2 min for each of the four steps. The coated surface has a positive charge that gives a substantial anodic electroosmotic flow (EOF) over the range of pH 2.5-12.0. The migration times of sample anions and a neutral marker (used for EOF calculations) are generally reproducible to an RSD of 1% or better, both for successive runs on a single capillary and from capillary to capillary. It was shown that the type of buffer used affects the EOF of a coated capillary. A concentration of 100 mM or higher sodium chloride minimizes differences in EOF with different buffers and also gives sharper peaks for sample anions. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.