Semi-permanent surfactant coatings for inorganic anion analysis in capillary electrophoresis

Capillary electrophoretic separations of inorganic anions are performed using a capillary coated with a mixture of the cationic surfactant didodecyldimethylammonium bromide (DDAB) and the zwitterionic surfactant 1,2-dilauroyl-sn-phosphatidylcholine (DLPC). These double-chained surfactants form semi-permanent coatings on the capillary wall, which allows the excess surfactant to be removed from the buffer prior to separation. Interactions between surfactant aggregates in the buffer and analyte anions are thus eliminated. The electroosmotic flow (EOF) can be altered from fully reversed (100% DDAB) to near zero (100% DLPC) using different ratios of DDAB and DLPC. Controlling the EOF allows for improved resolution of the anions while maintaining a rapid, co-EOF separation, free from analyte-surfactant additive interactions.