Separation of Metallic Nanoparticles (MNPs) by Capillary Electrophoresis

Abstract

ABSTRACT The research provides a comprehensive survey of recent developments and applications that have used capillary electrophoresis to separate metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) such as gold Au, silver Ag and also non-metallic nanoparticles (NPs) such as silica. This project focused on studies of two capillary electrophoresis CE modes that have been reported for metal nanoparticle separation: Micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC) and Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE). The overall objective of the project is to evaluate all the current (sometimes conflicting) reports of MNP separation procedures in an attempt to predict the optimal conditions for conducting separations. The methodology employed was a comparison between previous studies according to the conditions in which the experiments were conducted and the factors affecting them such as temperature, pressure and injection time, migration time, mode of separation, buffer material, component and concentration of surfactant. This project attempt to address the relationship between some of these factors using graphical methods that combine data from published papers and reports.