Design and construction of a miniaturized capillary zone electrophoresis apparatus with diode laser-based indirect photometric detection in the visible range

Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) is a versatile chemical analysis technique. Indirect detection was found necessary for detection of important cations. The objective of this pioneering study was to design and construct a miniaturized CZE apparatus with diode laser-based indirect photometric detection in the visible range. Use of a laser instead of other light sources allows miniaturization of the CZE apparatus. A CZE apparatus was designed and successfully built to conduct indirect detection using laser light. The detection ability of the instrumentation was then demonstrated using standard cation solutions. Calibration curves were generated by conducting a large number of cation detection experiments. Linear correlations were obtained between concentrations and peak areas for Na+ and K + cations. The laser-CZE apparatus constructed can be used not only for inorganic cations but also for inorganic anions as well as organic species by using a suitable laser with a corresponding visualizing agent.