5. Conclusion

Today, capillary electrophoresis has become an established separative technique. The possibility of using a variety of detectors further enhances its flexibility and its ability to address very different fields.

Capillary electrophoresis undoubtedly has a key role to play in the development of lab-on-a-chip, integrated systems covering the entire analysis chain.

The driving force behind these developments is the demand from many application sectors for portable devices or sensors to carry out analyses directly on site.

Its strong points include the electro-osmotic flow used to convey fluids, making pumps unnecessary, as well as the possibility of using capillaries as veritable micro-reactors (as demonstrated by developments in the fields of pre-concentration and derivatization). It should also be noted that the chip...