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Determination of surfactants by capillary electrophoresis
Author(s) -
Heinig Katja,
Vogt Carla
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
electrophoresis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.666
H-Index - 158
eISSN - 1522-2683
pISSN - 0173-0835
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1522-2683(19991001)20:15/16<3311::aid-elps3311>3.0.co;2-i
Subject(s) - capillary electrophoresis , chromatography , chemistry , derivatization , analyte , sodium dodecyl sulfate , isotachophoresis , pulmonary surfactant , electrophoresis , cationic polymerization , micellar electrokinetic chromatography , electrolyte , mass spectrometry , organic chemistry , biochemistry , electrode
Capillary electrophoresis has been increasingly used during the past few years for the separation and determination of surfactants. These substances are applied in many household and industrial products such as laundry detergents, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, often as homologous and isomeric mixtures. Product development and control as well as toxicological and environmental analyses require selective and sensitive analytical methods. This review presents capillary electrophoretic techniques to determine important representatives of cationic, anionic, and neutral surfactants. The application of different buffer additives such as organic solvents, cyclodextrins or micelles to enhance the resolution of complex mixtures is discussed. Besides direct and indirect UV and fluorescence detection, examples for conductivity and mass spectrometric detection are also given. Derivatization procedures to improve the detectability and implement charge in neutral analytes are described. The successful use of capillary electrophoresis for surfactant determinations has proven that it can serve as a routine technique in many real‐world applications. Robust, validated methods for the quantitation of single compounds, such as alkylbenzene sulfonates, sodium dodecyl sulfate and benzalkonium salts, are now available. Characteristic peak patterns (fingerprint analysis) can be used for the identification of surfactants in multicomponent formulations ( e.g. ethoxylates and phosphonates).