Preparation and characterization of a polystyrene/bovine serum albumin nanoparticle‐coated capillary for chiral separation using open‐tubular capillary electrochromatography

Polystyrene ( PS ) nanoparticles coated by BSA , hereafter denoted as PS / BSA , were prepared and chemically immobilized for the first time onto a capillary inner wall for open‐tubular CEC ( OTCEC ). EOF and scanning electron micrography were used to characterize the prepared nanoparticle‐coated capillaries. To investigate the performance of the prepared columns in OTCEC , chiral separation of d , l ‐tryptophan ( dl ‐ T rp) was performed in monolayer BSA ‐modified capillary and PS / BSA nanoparticle‐coated columns. The results indicated that the nanoparticle‐modified column afforded a higher resolution compared with the monolayer type. Rapid enantioseparation of dl ‐ T rp (within 3 min) was achieved with the PS / BSA ‐immobilized column using an electroosmotic pump‐assisted CEC . Enantiomer separations of other compounds like dl ‐tyrosine and warfarin were also achieved with the column. Besides, run‐to‐run and column‐to‐column repeatabilities of the PS / BSA ‐coated column in the chiral separation were systematically introduced.