3. Contributions to peak broadening

Capillary electrophoresis is an analytical technique renowned for giving high efficiency values, in excess of 10 ⁴ , or even 10 ⁵ . This stems from the flat velocity profile of electroosmotic flow, which minimizes the dispersion of a band of a given compound along the capillary as it moves compared to a parabolic hydrodynamic flow as observed in liquid chromatography. However, several phenomena can quickly contribute to a drop in efficiency, degrading the shape of peaks and the appearance of the electrophoregram. This section describes the main phenomena that can widen and distort peaks, and the options for avoiding them, based on the assumption that each compound is characterized by a Gaussian-shaped peak. In this case, the width of the peak is characterized by the standard deviation σ, knowing that...