Capillary zone electrophoresis of amino acids on a hybrid poly(dimethylsiloxane)-glass chip

Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)-PDMS and hybrid PDMS-glass devices have been characterized and compared in terms of current-voltage linearity, contact angle, electroosmotic velocity, electroosmotic mobility, and electrokinetic potential in dependence on the surface treatment. The hybrid PDMS-glass microfluidic devices have further been tested as on-chip capillary electrophoresis systems for the separation of fluorescently labeled amino acids. It has been demonstrated that different methods of surface pretreatment of the PDMS-glass devices result in significantly different separation performance, with plate numbers varying from 650 to 57 000 in dependence on the surface state and the nature of the amino acids. Electrophoretic separations of amino acids have been achieved within tens of seconds with detection limits of less than 2 microM (approximately 2 x 10(-16) to 2.5 x 10(-16) mol quantities at injection volumes of 110-120 pL). The detected amounts of fluorescein isothiocyante (FITC)-amino acids are at least ten times lower, since the amino acid:FITC ratio is 10:1 mol. The results demonstrate the perspective of such hybrid PDMS-glass microfluidic systems and the methods to modify their surfaces for on-chip separation methods for biomolecules.     

Large-volume stacking with polarity switching and sweeping for chlorophenols and chlorophenoxy acids in capillary electrophoresis

This paper describes approaches for stacking large volumes of sample solutions containing a mixture of chlorophenols and chlorophenoxyacetic acids as their anions in capillary zone electrophoresis, and compares results to standard capillary electrophoresis (CE) and normal stacking modes. In order to increase the amount of sample injected beyond the optimal conditions and maintain high resolution, the sample introduction buffer must be removed after the stacking process is completed. This is achieved by pumping the sample buffer out of the column using polarity switching. Large sample volumes are loaded by hydrodynamic injection, then stacked at the injection buffer/run electrolyte interface, followed by the removal of the large plug of low-conductivity sample matrix from the capillary column using polarity switching and finally the separation of the stacked anions in a basic buffer (pH 8.65). Around 10- and 40-fold improvement of sensitivity was achieved by normal stacking and large-volume stacking with polarity switching, respectively, when compared to the standard CE analysis. Sweeping-micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC) was also investigated for the purpose of comparison to the stacking technique. The method should be suitable for the analysis of these chemical compound classes in industrial chlorophenoxyacetic acid manufacture.     

Electrokinetic characterization of hybrid NOA 81-glass microchips: Application to protein microchip electrophoresis with indirect fluorescence detection

A low-cost and straightforward hybrid NOA (Norland optical adhesive) 81-glass microchip electrophoresis device was designed and developed for protein separation using indirect fluorescence detection. This new microchip was first characterized in terms of surface charge density via electroosmotic mobility measurement and stability over time. A systematic determination of the electroosmotic mobility (μ_eo) over a wide pH range (2–10) and at various ionic strengths (20–50 mM) was developed for the first time via the neutral marker approach in an original simple frontal methodology. The evolution of μ_eo was proved consistent with the silanol and thiol functions arising from the glass and the NOA materials, respectively. The repeatability and reproducibility of the measurements on different microchips (RSD < 14%) and within 15 days (less than 5% decrease) were successfully demonstrated. The microchip was then applied for the efficient electrophoretic separation of proteins in a zonal mode coupled with indirect fluorescence detection, which is, to our knowledge, the first proof of concept of capillary zone electrophoresis in this hybrid microsystem.     

Split injection: A simple introduction of subnanoliter sample volumes for chip electrophoresis

The ability to accurately inject small volumes of sample into microfluidic channels is of great importance in electrophoretic separations. While electrokinetic injection of nanoliter scale volumes is commonly utilized in microchip capillary electrophoresis (MCE), mobility and matrix bias makes quantitation difficult. Herein, we describe a new injection method based on the simple patterning of the crossing of channels that does not require sophisticated instrumentation. The sample volume injected into the separation channel is dependent on the ratio of the widths of the crossing channels. This injection method is capable of introducing, into a separation channel, multiple plugs of sample on a large scale. This injection technique is tested for zone electrophoresis in native and surface modified poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) chips.     

Sample stacking revisited: a personal perspective

One of the major challenges in capillary electrophoresis and other miniaturization separation techniques is to maintain high detection sensitivity in the increasingly smaller dimension. Numerous on-column sample preconcentrating procedures, based either on electrokinetic focusing or chromatographic effects, have been developed. This review will discuss some practical approaches to sample stacking from a personal perspective. Several recent developments in sample stacking on microfluidic devices are reviewed.     

On-chip pressure injection for integration of infrared-mediated DNA amplification with electrophoretic separation

Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) membrane valves were utilized for diaphragm pumping on a PDMS-glass hybrid microdevice in order to couple infrared-mediated DNA amplification with electrophoretic separation of the products in a single device. Specific amplification products created during non-contact, infrared (IR) mediated polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were injected via chip-based diaphragm pumping into an electrophoretic separation channel. Channel dimensions were designed for injection plug shaping via preferential flow paths, which aided in minimizing the plug widths. Unbiased injection of sample could be achieved in as little as 190 ms, decreasing the time required with electrokinetic injection by two orders of magnitude. Additionally, sample stacking was promoted using laminar or biased-laminar loading to co-inject either water or low ionic strength DNA marker solution along with the PCR-amplified sample. Complete baseline resolution (Res = 2.11) of the 80- and 102-bp fragments of pUC-18 DNA marker solution was achieved, with partially resolved 257- and 267-bp fragments (Res = 0.56), in a separation channel having an effective length of only 3.0 cm. This resolution was deemed adequate for many PCR amplicon separations, with the added advantage of short separation time-typically complete in <120 s. Decreasing the amount of glass surrounding the PCR chamber reduced the DNA amplification time, yielding a further enhancement in analysis speed, with heating and cooling rates as high as 13.4 and -6.4 degrees C s(-1), respectively. With the time requirements greatly reduced for each step, it was possible to seamlessly couple IR-mediated amplification, sample injection, and separation/detection of a 278-bp fragment from the invA gene of <1000 starting copies of Salmonella typhimurium DNA in approximately 12 min on a single device, representing the fastest PCR-ME integration achieved to date.     

Field-amplified on-line sample stacking for determination of carnosine-related peptides by capillary electrophoresis

An on-line sample stacking method, namely field-amplified sample injection, has been developed for the separation and determination of carnosine, anserine, and homocarnosine by capillary electrophoresis. Using electrokinetic injection, about 130- to 160-fold improvement of sensitivity was achieved without loss of separation efficiency when compared to conventional sample injection. For conventional injection, the samples were dissolved in running buffer and then hydrodynamically injected for 10 s (3.45 kPa). Various parameters affecting separation and sample stacking were optimized. Under optimum conditions, linear responses were obtained over two orders of magnitude and the detection limits (defined as S/N = 3) of carnosine, anserine, and homocarnosine were 1.5 x 10(-8) to 1.6 x 10(-8) mol/L.     

Determination of inorganic cations in biological fluids using a hybrid capillary electrophoresis device coupled with contactless conductivity detection

We describe the assembly of a hybrid electrophoresis device that contains fused silica capillaries interconnected to a microfabricated interface in a cross format for the determination of inorganic cations in biological samples. The sample transport in the proposed hybrid device was performed under gated injection mode and the separations were monitored with a capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detector. The capillary extremities were inserted into polypropylene tubes to create solution reservoirs. Sensing electrodes were produced using stainless‐steel hypodermic needles previously cut with 2.0 mm length. The running composition and injection time were optimized and the best results were found using 50 mmol/L lactic acid, 20 mmol/L histidine and 3 mmol/L 18‐crown‐6 ether, and an electrokinetic injection time of 15 s. The separation of six inorganic cations was achieved with baseline resolution, and efficiencies were between 9.1 × 10³ and 5.4 × 10⁴ plates/m. The proposed hybrid device was explored for determining the concentration levels of inorganic cations in urine, saliva, and tear samples, employing Li⁺ as an internal standard. The achieved results were in good agreement with the data reported in the literature. The reliability of the proposed method ranged from 93 to 98%, thus suggesting satisfactory accuracy for bioanalytical applications.     

Sample introduction and separation in capillary electrophoresis, and combination with mass spectrometric detection

Capillary-electrophoresis methods are attracting interest owing to the ability to yield rapid high-resolution separations, but many aspects, such as sample injection, separation conditions and detection, need further development. Effects related to sample injection and buffer composition have been investigated. Automated methods for electromigration injection of nl-size sample volumes are shown to give a precision of approximately +/-1%. Problems encountered with manual injection procedures have been examined by an electric field reversal technique. The effect of buffer pH on capillary zone-electrophoresis (CZE) separations can be attributed to changes in electro-osmotic flow velocities and to changes in the isoelectric points of analytes. The interfacing of capillary electrophoresis with mass spectrometry is described and demonstrated for a range of conditions, with a quaternary phosphonium salt mixture. Separations obtained by CZE and capillary isotachophoresis are compared and the relative advantages of the two techniques discussed.     

Progress in stacking techniques based on field amplification of capillary electrophoresis

Numerous strategies have been developed to mitigate the intrinsic low detection sensitivity that is a limitation of capillary electrophoresis. Among them, in-line stacking is an effective strategy to address the sensitivity challenge, and among the different stacking techniques, stacking based on field amplification is the most effective and simplest method of achieving high sensitivity without special complicated mechanisms or operations. This review introduces several stacking techniques based on field amplification. Field-amplified sample stacking, large-volume sample stacking, matrix field-amplified stacking injection (FASI), head-column FASI, matrix FASI combined with head-column FASI, FASI coupled with extraction and clean-up methods, electrokinetic supercharging, cation–anion selective exhaustive injection-sweeping-micellar electrokinetic chromatography, and newly developed techniques based on field amplification combined with other methods are included, and examples of straightforward methods for solving the sensitivity problem are provided. We also present a brief overview of the advantages, limitations, and future developments of these techniques. Graphical Abstract

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High-voltage power supplies to capillary and microchip electrophoresis

Over the past years, the development of capillary electrophoresis (CE) and microchip electrophoresis (ME) systems has grown due to instrumental simplicity and wide application. In both CE and ME, the application of a high voltage (HV) is a crucial step in the electrokinetic (EK) injection and separation processes. Particularly on ME devices, EK injection is often performed with three different modes: gated, pinched, and unpinched. In all these cases, different potential values may be applied to one or multiple channels to control the injection of small sample volumes as well as the separation process. For this reason, the construction of reliable HV power supplies (HVPS) is required. This review covers the advances of the development of commercial and laboratory-built HVPS for CE and ME. Moreover, it intends to be a guide for new developers of electrophoresis instrumentation.     

Strategies for the on-line preconcentration and separation of hypolipidaemic drugs using micellar electrokinetic chromatography

Three strategies were investigated for the simultaneous separation and on-line preconcentration of charged and neutral hypolipidaemic drugs in micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC). A background electrolyte (BGE) consisting of 20 mM ammonium bicarbonate buffer (pH 8.50) and 50 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was used for the separation and on-line preconcentration of the drugs. The efficiencies of sweeping, analyte focusing by micelle collapse (AFMC), and simultaneous field-amplified sample stacking (FASS) and sweeping, were compared for the preconcentration of eight hypolipidaemic drugs in different conductivity sample matrices. When compared with a hydrodynamic injection (5 s at 50 mbar, 0.51% of capillary volume to detection window) of drug mixture prepared in the separation BGE, improvements of detection sensitivity of 60-, 83-, and 80-fold were obtained with sweeping, AFMC and simultaneous FASS and sweeping, respectively, giving limits of detection (LODs) of 50, 36, and 38 μg/L, respectively. The studied techniques showed suitability for focusing different types of analytes having different values of retention factor (k). This is the first report for the separation of different types of hypolipidaemic drugs by capillary electrophoresis (CE). The three methods were validated then applied for the analysis of target analytes in wastewater samples from Hobart city.     

Polymethacrylate monolithic and hybrid particle-monolithic columns for reversed-phase and hydrophilic interaction capillary liquid chromatography

We prepared hybrid particle-monolithic polymethacrylate columns for micro-HPLC by in situ polymerization in fused silica capillaries pre-packed with 3–5 μm C₁₈ and aminopropyl silica bonded particles, using polymerization mixtures based on laurylmethacrylate–ethylene dimethacrylate (co)polymers for the reversed-phase (RP) mode and [2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]-dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl) zwitterionic (co)polymers for the hydrophilic interaction (HILIC) mode. The hybrid particle-monolithic columns showed reduced porosity and hold-up volumes, approximately 2–2.5 times lower in comparison to the pure monolithic columns prepared in the whole volume of empty capillaries. The elution volumes of sample compounds are also generally lower in comparison to packed or pure monolithic columns. The efficiency and permeability of the hybrid columns are intermediate in between the properties of the reference pure monolithic and particle-packed columns. The chemistries of the embedded solid particles and of the interparticle monolithic moiety in the hybrid capillary columns contribute to the retention to various degrees, affecting the selectivity of separation. Some hybrid columns provided improved separations of proteins in comparison to the reference particle-packed columns in the reversed-phase mode. Zwitterionic hybrid particle-monolithic columns show dual mode retention HILIC/RP behaviour depending on the composition of the mobile phase and allow separations of polar compounds such as phenolic acids in the HILIC mode at lower concentrations of acetonitrile and, often in shorter analysis time in comparison to particle-packed and full-volume monolithic columns.     

Electroosmotic flow-balanced isotachophoretic stacking with continuous electrokinetic injection for the concentration of anions in high conductivity samples

An EOF counter-balanced ITP boundary has been used to stack anions from high conductivity samples during continuous electrokinetic injection of the sample. In a polystyrenesulfonate/poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) polyelectrolyte coated capillary, the time at which the ITP boundary exited the capillary could be prolonged by balancing the movement of the boundary with the EOF. Using a bis-tris-propane electrolyte, the ITP boundary was removed from the capillary within 7 min, while when using triethanolamine the ITP boundary was still at 30% of the capillary after 2 h of injection. Using these systems, the sensitivity of a mixture of simple organic acids in 100 mM Cl⁻ was improved by 700–800-fold using bis-tris-propane with a whole-capillary injection of the sample and 5 min of electrokinetic injection at +28 kV, and 1100–1300-fold using triethanolamine and 60 min of electrokinetic injection under the same conditions. The potential of the method to be applicable to high conductivity samples was demonstrated by stacking a whole capillary filled with urine spiked with naphthalenedisulfonic acid, with limits of detection 450 times lower than those achievable with a normal hydrodynamic injection.     

Ionic liquids based on imidazole for online concentration of catecholamines in capillary electrophoresis

Potential possibilities of long‐chain ionic liquids based on imidazole (1‐dodecyl‐3‐methylimidazolium chloride and 1‐cetyl‐3‐methylimidazolium chloride) for online sample concentration techniques (field‐amplified sample stacking, head‐column field‐amplified sample stacking, and sweeping) of catecholamines were studied in both capillary zone electrophoresis and micellar electrokinetic chromatography. The use of a high‐conductivity sample matrix in sweeping was found to significantly increase the separation efficiency of analyte up to 2 × 10⁶ theoretical plates per meter and remarkably reduce limits of detection for catecholamines up to 50 ng/mL. This approach was shown to be suitable for the determination of trace amounts of catecholamines in biological fluids.     

Separation of Organomercury Species Using Nonaqueous Capillary Electrophoresis Coupled with Sample Stacking and Electrokinetic Injection Techniques

A nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis (NACE) method, 30 mM ammonium acetate in methanol as background electrolyte (BGE), was developed for separation of the organomercury species without complexing reagents. The effects of different solutes and solvents in BGE were studied. Three species of organomercury, methylmercury, ethylmercury and phenylmercury, were separated well and all the number of theoretical plates were over 10⁶. The present NACE method was also coupled with sample stacking and electrokinetic injection techniques to enhance the detection sensitivity. Under the optimum conditions, the limit of detection (S/N = 3) is 18 ng mL⁻¹ and the linear relation range from 40 to 750 ng mL⁻¹ were obtained for methylmercury.     

Field‐amplified sample injection combined with CE for the enantiodetermination of cathinones in urine samples

This work presents a capillary electrophoresis methodology for the enantiodetermination of cathinones in urine employing a liquid–liquid extraction sample pretreatment. The cathinones were enantioseparated by adding a mixture of 8 mM 2‐hydroxypropyl β‐cyclodextrin and 5 mM β‐cyclodextrin to the background electrolyte, which consists of 70 mM of monosodium phosphate aqueous solution at pH 2.5. Field‐amplified sample injection was used as preconcentration strategy to improve the sensitivity. We studied various parameters that affect this stacking strategy, in particular, the sample solvent and its pH, the presence or absence of a low conductivity solvent plug introduced before the sample injection, the nature and volume of this plug, and the voltage and time of the electrokinetic injection of the sample. The optimum conditions were achieved by injecting a plug of isopropanol:H₂O 50/50 at 50 mbar for 5 s prior to the electrokinetic injection of the sample prepared in an aqueous solution of HCl 10^?6 M. The sensitivity enhancement factors were from 562 to 601 in terms of peak area and from 444 to 472 in terms of peak height. The method was validated by analyzing spiked urine samples, obtaining a linear range of 25 to 1000 ng/mL and limits of detection ranging from 15 to 45 ng/mL.     

Reduction in sample injection bias using pressure gradients generated on chip

Sample injection in microchip-based capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) frequently rely on the use of electric fields which can introduce differences in the injected volume for the various analytes depending on their electrophoretic mobilities and molecular diffusivities. While such injection biases may be minimized by employing hydrodynamic flows during the injection process, this approach typically requires excellent dynamic control over the pressure gradients applied within a microfluidic network. The current article describes a microchip device that offers this needed control by generating pressure gradients on-chip via electrokinetic means to minimize the dead volume in the system. In order to realize the desired pressure-generation capability, an electric field was applied across two channel segments of different depths to produce a mismatch in the electroosmotic flow rate at their junction. The resulting pressure-driven flow was then utilized to introduce sample zones into a CZE channel with minimal injection bias. The reported injection strategy allowed the introduction of narrow sample plugs with spatial standard deviations down to about 45 μm. This injection technique was later integrated to a capillary zone electrophoresis process for analyzing amino acid samples yielding separation resolutions of about 4–6 for the analyte peaks in a 3 cm long analysis channel.     

On-chip pumping for pressure mobilization of the focused zones following microchip isoelectric focusing

Isoelectric focusing (IEF), traditionally accomplished in slab or tube gels, has also been performed extensively in capillary and, more recently, in microchip formats. IEF separations performed in microchips typically use electroosmotic flow (EOF) or chemical treatment to mobilize the focused zones past the detection point. This report describes the development and optimization of a microchip IEF method in a hybrid PDMS-glass device capable of controlling the mobilization of the focused zones past the detector using on-chip diaphragm pumping. The microchip design consisted of a glass fluid layer (separation channels), a PDMS layer and a glass valve layer (pressure connections and valve seats). Pressure mobilization was achieved on-chip using a diaphragm pump consisting of a series of reversible elastomeric valves, where a central diaphragm valve determined the volume of solution displaced while the gate valves on either side imparted directionality. The pumping rate could be adjusted to control the mobilization flow rate by varying the actuation times and pressure applied to the PDMS to actuate the valves. In order to compare the separation obtained using the chip with that obtained in a capillary, a serpentine channel design was used to match the separation length of the capillary, thereby evaluating the effect of diaphragm pumping itself on the overall separation quality. The optimized mIEF method was applied to the separation of labeled amino acids.