Plexiglas column coatings for capillary electrophoresis of biomolecules

Abstract

In this article, Plexiglas (primarily polymethylmethacrylate) was used to modify fused silica capillary columns for capillary electrophoresis (CE). The procedure was carried out using a dynamic coating method at room temperature. The whole process required only 20 min, and the resulting capillaries could be immediately used for the analysis of biomolecules. Greatly suppressed electroosmotic flow (EOF) was observed over a pH range of 3–10. Various biochemical standards including ribonucleotides, peptides, proteins, and DNA were successfully separated. More than 0.5×106 theoretical plates were obtained, and this efficiency changed little in more than 1 month of continuous use. Lower than ∼1.6% relative standard deviation in migration times (27 successive runs) was observed for model proteins. The simplicity of the modification process allows this method to be suitable for modifying miniaturized electrophoresis channels or devices. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Micro Sep 11: 325–329, 1999