Surfactant-induced electrophoretic mobility of intact cellulose polymer derivatives

Chemically modified celluloses are mobilized in electric fields as complexes with charged surfactants. Depending on the nature of a participating amphiphile and the type of substitution for a given class of cellulose derivative, different kinds of interactions take place. The various migration mechanisms are described through determination of adsorption isotherms followed by nonlinear model fitting of simple semiempirical migration models. Various anionic surfactants differing mainly in the hydrocarbon skeleton were employed as mobility inducers along with an uncharged and carbohydrate-based detergent. A clear distinction between differently substituted celluloses regarding mobility and selectivity is observed, and capillary electrophoresis shows to be a technique capable of separating mixtures of intact cellulose derivatives independent of molecular weight or hydrodynamic radius.