Separation mechanisms in capillary electrophoresis

Since its inception in the 80's, capillary electrophoresis has matured into a well established technique for the separation and analysis of complex samples. One of its strongest aspects is the ability to handle materials from a diversity of chemical classes, ranging from few to millions of Daltons. This is only possible because several modes of electrophoresis can be performed in a single capillary format. In this work, relevant aspects of capillary zone electrophoresis in its three modes (free solution, micellar and gel), capillary isoelectric focusing and capillary isotachophoresis are discussed and many representative applications are presented.