Number of theoretical plates achievable by a toroidal capillary electrophoresis system

The ability of a method and instrument to separate very similar compounds is related to the "plate number," a number indicating performance. The resolution between two neighboring peaks is proportional to the square root of the plate number. Currently available commercial capillary electrophoresis instruments easily reach plate numbers of a few million. In the present work, a capillary electrophoresis system with a toroidal platform is proposed and theoretically studied with the goal of extending the achievable plate number. In this new system, electrophoresis occurs in a nonstop continuous circulating mode within a closed loop capillary (toroid). Plate numbers upwards of one billion are theoretically predicted. This could resolve hundreds of unseparated mixtures of stereoisomers and other analytes that remain without a method for their analysis.