Capillary electrophoresis (Waters)

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is a separation technique based on the migration of charged species under the effect of an electric field inside a fused silica capillary filled with a buffer solution. The migration of a species is a function of its electrophoretic mobility, which varies according to the charge/mass ratio (w/m). As this ratio is a very specific property of compounds, CE allows very high resolution separation and can be used to analyze almost all classes of compounds : inorganic anions and cations, organic acids, amino acids and biomolecules.

Application example

At ISTerre, in the framework of research carried out to understand the origins of life, we have studied, among other things, the decomposition of formic acid (HCOOH) in the presence of gold under mild hydrothermal conditions (15-20 bar/200°C) according to the reaction HCOOH(l) → H2(g) +CO2(g).

This graph illustrates the % decomposition of HCOOH, measured in capillary electrophoresis, as a function of time for S/V ratios (active gold surface area/volume of 0.1mol.L-1 HCOOH solution) ranging from 0.26 to 25 cm2/ml (Brunet et al., 2019).



ELECTROPHORESE ZONE CAPILLARY (CIA Analyser WATERS)
Framework for use Device used in research projects at ISTerre, OSUG and in external services.
Technical Specifications Sample Types
Natural aqueous solutions (pore water, sampling water, ...) or synthetic solutions (synthetic supernatants, extraction solutions ...)

Technical data
Column : Fused silica capillary (Ø=50-100µm, L= 60-100cm)
Source : UV lamp (Hg or Zn)
Wavelengths : 185, 214 and 254 nm
Detector : Diode (direct and inverse UV)
Limit of detection (LOD) : up to 100µg.L-1
Limit of quantification (LOQ) : up to 300µg.L-1 for some compounds

Types of Analysis
Analysis of inorganic anions and cations, organic acids and amino acids in aqueous matrices :
Anions : Br-,Cl-, NO3-, SO42-, HPO42-, HCO3-, SO42-, HPO42-, HCO3-.
Cations : Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, NH4+
Specialization : ClO4<- / ClO3<-
Organic acids : formic acid, ethanoic acid, lactic acid, propionic acid...
Amino acids : Glycine, alanine, histidine... ?
Quality Control Certified standards for ion chromatography 1000mg.L-1
and CRM 617
Responsible for the tool(s),
Team to contact


 Technical Manager
Martine Lanson 04 76 51 40 78