Chapter 1 - Milestones in the Development of Capillary Electromigration Techniques

Abstract

The evolution of capillary electromigration techniques is reviewed. The introduction gives a short overview of milestones and pioneers in the first period of about 50 years and in the next sections more recent innovations in the techniques are described. Attention is paid to instrumentation with emphasis on detection. A separate section shows the developments in microchip capillary electrophoresis. The possibilities of electrokinetic chromatography are discussed. Micellar electrokinetic chromatography and capillary electrochromatography can be used for the separation of charged and neutral compounds. Developments and highlights in the use of capillary gel electophoresis, capillary isoelectric focusing, and affinity capillary electrophoresis are presented. Electrokinetic and chromatographic preconcentration can improve the sensitivity, and different approaches and designs have been developed. Finally, the applicability of capillary electromigration techniques in some important areas is demonstrated.