An on-column fracture/end-column reaction interface for chemiluminescence detection in capillary electrophoresis

Chemiluminescence (CL) offers a sensitive detection method for capillary electrophoresis (CE), but the implementation of CE–CL is usually under compromised operating conditions for CE, such as the prerequisite of extreme pH buffer for optimal CL reaction at the capillary outlet. This has sometimes significantly deteriorated the separation of CE. In this study, the development of a new interface makes it possible to optimize the operating conditions for CE separation and CL detection independently. The interface consists of an on-column fracture being installed in a reservoir near the capillary end to create an electrical connection and also serve as reagent addition entrance. The capillary terminal is inserted into an end-column reservoir for CL reaction and detection. In this arrangement, the applied electric field has been decoupled from the CL detection, which is proved to effectively improve CE's performance by allowing the use of optimal CE buffers. At the same time, it enables the optimization of CL detection independently. The applicability of this interface was evaluated by using acridinium ester (AE) and luminol systems. For AE system, the interfering products of CL reagent (⁻OH, HO₂⁻) have been prevented, and the pH range of CE buffer can be independent to the optimal pH value of AE CL reaction, which is usually below 3. The AE was detected using running buffer at pH 8.7, giving a detection limit of 0.1 nM (S/N = 3), and the theoretical plate numbers is as high as 56 000. The on-column fracture based configuration is simple, sensitive and easy to implement.