Application of electromigration techniques in environmental analysis

Abstract

Inherently trace-level concentration of pollutants in the environment, together with the complexity of sample matrices, place a strong demand on the detection capabilities of electromigration methods. Significant progress is continually being made, widening the applicability of these techniques, mostly capillary zone electrophoresis, micellar electrokinetic chromatography, and capillary electrochromatography, to the analysis of real-world environmental samples, including the concentration sensitivity and robustness of the developed analytical procedures. This chapter covers the recent major developments in the domain of capillary electrophoresis analysis of environmental samples for pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, phenols, amines, carboxylic acids, explosives, pharmaceuticals, and ionic liquids. Emphasis ismade on pre-capillary and on-capillary chromatography and electrophoresis-based concentration of analytes and detection improvement.