Miniaturisation of chromatographic systems is becoming increasingly desirable. Future developments will demand the analysis of smaller samples, at faster rates, with increasingly complex separations required. These demands are already starting to exceed the capabilities of conventional HPLC systems. Systems will require more column efficiency, operation at higher flow rates and detection of the undiluted eluent in the most sensitive detectors available. CEC offers the opportunity to achieve these goals. The main obstacles to using CEC reliably are the relatively unstable nature of purely electrically driven flows in packed beds, the lack of good quality CEC columns and the lack of dedicated instruments to perform CEC analysis. Also, CEC shares some of the same problems with HPLC of miniaturising the separation system without incurring dispersion related losses. The work detailed in this thesis contributes considerable advancements in most of these areas. Novel methods to produce high quality columns are described. The work demonstrates effective methods for coupling CEC to MS that make allowance for control of dispersion. The thermal limits of operation are discussed and demonstrated. Pressure-assisted CEC, demonstrating the practicality of performing CEC based analysis that is as reliable as current HPLC systems is shown. Proper optimisation of these type of uses will ultimately deliver CEC in a reliable format which will encourage a whole new audience of users to reap the benefits available.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:641809 |
| Date | January 2000 |
| Creators | Boughtflower, Robert J. |
| Publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/1842/12403 |
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