Capillary Electroseparation Methods

There are six types of capillary electroseparation available: capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE), capillary gel electrophoresis (CGE), micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC), capillary electrochromatography (CEC), capillary isoelectric focusing (CIEF), and capillary isotachophoresis (CITP). They can be classified into continuous and discontinuous systems as shown in Figure 1. A continuous system has a background electrolyte acting throughout the capillary as a buffer. This can be broken down into kinetic (constant electrolyte composition) and steady-state (varying electrolyte composition) processes. A discontinuous system keeps the sample in distinct zones separated by two different electrolytes.

Figure 1: Categorization of Electrophoresis Techniques