Capillary Electrophoresis - Overview

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is an example of a technique that was conceptualized before its time. The technology needed to fully realize the potential of this technique was not available when Hjerten first demonstrated inorganic ion and protein separations in 1–3 mm quartz tubes in 1967. Hjerten was able to demonstrate that separations were possible in narrow tubes, but there was no reliable source of the submillimeter inner diameter (ID) fused silica capillary that was necessary to realize the full advantages of the technique. Even if there was, detector technology had not evolved to the point where the miniscule amounts of analyte present in nanoliter detection volumes could be measured. It was not until the early 1980s that conditions were right for CE to become a mainstream analytical technique. Procedures for the production of large quantities of fused silica capillaries were developed to fill the growing demand for capillary gas chromatography columns. The advent of laser induced fluorescence (LIF) and electrochemical (EC) detectors provided the high mass sensitivity necessary for detection in nanoliter volumes. Jorgenson and Lucas published several key papers on modern CE in 1981. Since then CE has experienced exponential growth to the point where there are well over 2000 articles published annually involving CE.