Electrophoresis, Vol.35, No.8, 1106-1113, 2014
Stable neutral double hydrophilic block copolymer capillary coating for capillary electrophoretic separations
Quaternized diblock copolymer, poly(N-methyl-2-vinylpyridinium iodide-block-ethylene oxide), was successfully used as a neutral, dynamic coating to suppress the electroosmotic flow. The block copolymer consisted of two polymers that were linked covalently together. The cationic block (poly(N-methyl-2-vinylpyridinium iodide)) was bound efficiently to the negatively charged capillary wall via electrostatic interactions, and the hydrophilic block (ethylene oxide) stabilized the system and created a neutral capillary surface with ultralow electroosmotic flow (+2.0 +/- 4.5 x 10(-10) m(2)/Vs). The main advantages of the coating were simple and fast preparation, easy regeneration and automation, and stable electroosmotic flow. To emphasize the potential of this type of coating its stability was measured at a wide pH range demonstrating a high stability in the pH range of 4.0-10.5 and lifetime up to 8 days. The successful studies carried out with beta-blockers, basic proteins, and lipoproteins proved the suitability of the coating for the separation of different sized analytes. Furthermore, the neutral coating developed is useful in a wide range of protein analysis and biological interaction studies under physiological condition.
Keywords:Basic proteins;Beta-blockers;Block copolymer coating;Capillary electrophoresis;Lipoproteins