Capillary electrophoresis study on phase of mixed micelles and its role in transport phenomena of particles

Abstract

In the present work comprehensive studies on electrophoretic effects induced by a phase of mixed micelles, that migrates surrounded with background electrolyte (BGE) and is denoted as the BGE/segment of mixed micelles/BGE system, were undertaken using capillary electrophoresis coupled with contactless conductivity or UV–vis detector. It was established that mixed micelles under electrophoresis are subject of evolution in terms of mobility, peak area and presence of sub-zones enforced by the composition of micellar phase, segment length and applied voltage. Established features allowed us to explain the electrophoretic behavior of nanoparticles in the system BGE/sample containing nanocrystals/segment of mixed micelles/BGE and it was postulated that a pseudomicellar state of nanoparticles can be useful term in analyzing the migration phenomena of nanoparticles within micellar environment. In contrast to the previous works, where transport of nanocrystals (NCs) within micellar segment or between two micellar segments was analyzed, the present work is focused on the transport of NCs from sample of NCs dispersed in BGE to phase of mixed micelles, i.e., to rear boundary between micellar zone and BGE. Based on these results, systematic studies on transport efficiency for nanoparticles in the system BGE/sample containing nanocrystals/segment of mixed micelles/BGE show that the system assures efficient transport of nanoparticles from BGE based sample to micellar phase and their efficient preconcentration at the micellar segment/BGE rear boundary.