Coupling Continuous Sample Treatment Systems to Capillary Electophoresis

The state of the art and prospects for the combined use of continuous sample treatment systems and custom-made and commercially available capillary electrophoresis equipment is presented and discussed. Sample treatment in this separation technique is of great practical relevance by virtue of its inherent shortcomings, which include low sensitivity, small sample volumes, and a marked influence of matrix components. The main technical types of coupling (in-line, on-line, and mixed) are dealt with systematically and compared to manually implemented approaches in order to derive practical conclusions with a view to developing new technical applications and facilitate use by routine laboratories.