ABSTRACT
An analytical method for concurrent analysis of inorganic anions and cations has been developed using a capillary electrophoresis (CE)-capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detector (C4D) system. Although hydrodynamic and electrokinetic injection techniques have been widely used in CE, we employed a capillary filling method (CFM) for the analysis of inorganic ions. The procedure is relatively simple and has the advantage that CMF does not require pressure control and vial exchange. Three anions (chloride, sulfate, nitrate) and five cations (ammonium, potassium, sodium, magnesium, calcium) were successfully separated and detected at ppm levels within 80 s using a 9 mM histidine/15 mM malic acid (pH 3.6) containing 50 mM N-dodecyl-N,N-dimethyl-3-ammonio-1-propanesulfonate as background electrolyte. Applying this analytical condition, the electroosmotic flow is negligible and anions and cations were migrated concurrently to different polarities according to their electrophoretic mobility. Obtained raw data showed stepwise increases in detected conductivity due to the migration of sample components, which expresses as peak profiles by differentiation of electropherograms. The RSD values of the peak area and migration times for the anions and cations were satisfactory and were less than 5.15 and 2.04%, respectively. The developed method was applied for the analysis of inorganic anions and cations in commercial mineral waters, tap water, urine, and exhaled breath condensate. These results indicate that the CE-C4D system with CFM is suitable for the rapid analysis of inorganic anions and cations in various samples.
