Electrophoretic separation of environmentally important phenolic compounds using montomorillonite-coated fused-silica capillaries

This paper reports a simple procedure for coating fused-silica capillaries with poly(diallyldimethyl ammonium chloride) and montmorillonite. The coated capillaries were characterized by performing EOF measurements as a function of buffer pH, number of layers of coating, and number of runs (stability). The coated capillaries showed a highly stable mu(EOF) (run-to-run RSD less than 1.5%, n = 20), allowing continuous use for several days without conditioning. The coated capillaries were then used for the effective separation of nine environmentally important phenolic compounds showing a significant improvement in the resolution, when compared to bare fused-silica capillaries. The EOF of the coated capillaries was constant in alkaline solutions (pH > or = 7), allowing the optimization of the separation conditions of phenolic compounds without significantly affecting the mu(EOF).