TERMINOLOGY AND NOMENCLATURE IN CAPILLARY ELECTROSEPARATION SYSTEMS

An outline of the basic theory of capillary electroseparations (CES) is given. This forms the basis for recommended naming of the various techniques and recommended methods for reporting migration and elution data. For those techniques where the separation process is primarily based upon electrophoresis [capillary electrophoresis (CE) and capillary gel electrophoresis (CGE)], the electroosmotic mobility of the electrolyte (if not zero) and the electrophoretic mobilities of the analytes should be reported. For those techniques where separation is primarily based upon partitioning between phases that move at different rates [capillary electrochromatography (CEC) and capillary micellar electrochromatography (CMEC)], the electroosmotic mobility of the electrolyte and the electromigration mobility of any moving secondary phase should be reported, along with the capacity factors (k') or effective capacity factors of the analytes. The band dispersion of CES systems should be measured in terms of the HETP, as in chromatography.