Dynamics of capillary electrochromatography: II. Comparison of column efficiency parameters in microscale high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrochromatography

Abstract

In capillary electrochromatography (CEC) the flow of the mobile phase is generated by electrosmotic means in high electric field. This work compares band spreading measured experimentally in several packed capillaries with electrosmotic flow (EOF) and viscous flow under otherwise identical conditions. The data were fitted to the simplified van Deemter equation for the theoretical plate height, H= A+ B/ u+ Cu, in order to evaluate parameters A and C in each mode of flow in the different columns. The ratio of these two parameters obtained with the same column in microscale HPLC (μ-HPLC) and CEC was used to quantify the attenuation of their contribution to band spreading upon changing from viscous flow (in μ-HPLC) to electrosmotic flow (in CEC). The capillary columns used in this study were packed with stationary phases of different pore sizes as well as retentive properties and measurements were carried out under different mobile phase conditions to examine the effects of the retention factor and buffer concentration. In the CEC mode, the value of both column parameters A and C was invariably by a factor of two to four lower than in the μ-HPLC mode. This effect may be attributed to the peculiarities of the EOF flow profile in the interstitial space and to the generation of intraparticle EOF inside the porous particles of the column packing. Thus, band spreading due to flow maldistribution and mass transfer resistances is significantly lower when the mobile phase flow is driven by voltage as in CEC, rather than by pressure as in μ-HPLC.