Combination of large volume sample stacking and dynamic pH junction for on-line preconcentration of weak electrolytes by capillary electrophoresis in comparison with isotachophoretic techniques

An on-line preconcentration capillary electrophoresis (CE) technique, which combines a large volume sample stacking with a dynamic pH junction technique, is introduced in this paper. This dynamic pH junction with co-electroosmotic migration is formed between sodium borate pH 9.5 and sodium phosphate pH 2.5 with 150 mM sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS). A full capillary based injection allows determination of weak acidic compounds at ppb concentration levels (achieved LOD for benzoic acid was 11 nmol L−1). The proposed preconcentration method was compared with ITP/ITP (LOD 120 nmol L−1), ITP/CZE (LOD 740 nmol L−1) and a simple CZE method (LOD 23,330 nmol L−1). The analytical potential of this method was assessed with juice test samples.