Theoretical principles of capillary electromigration methods

During the past 50 years, electrophoretic separations and analyses in capillaries and microchannels emerged as techniques which provide high-resolution separations with on-column and/or end-column sample detection while requiring only small amounts of sample and reagents. Techniques developed include capillary zone electrophoresis, capillary isotachophoresis, capillary isoelectric focusing, capillary gel electrophoresis, affinity capillary electrophoresis, electrokinetic capillary chromatography and capillary electrochromatography. This chapter provides the theoretical principles of capillary electromigration methods, namely short descriptions of electrokinetic phenomena, efficiency of analyte transport, the concept of mobility, dispersion and focusing of analytes, the regulating principle, the occurrence of system peaks, dynamic computer simulations of capillary electrophoresis and other computer models to predict transport and separation in capillary electrophoresis