New technique for nanoparticle capillary electrophoresis/microfluidic chip and its uses in enantioselective separation

Nanoparticles have been widely used in separation science due to their large specific surface area and good biocompatibility. Nanoparticle capillary electrophoresis (CE)/microfluidic chip (MC) technique is the hybrid of nanomaterial and the CE/MC technique. By being adsorbed or bonded onto the inner surface of the capillary, the nanoparticles can interact with the analytes as stationary phase. As a kind of separation medium, the nanoparticles can also participate in the separation process acting as a pseudostationary phase (PSP) to improve the separation efficiency and selectivity. Chirality is one of the intrinsic characters of the nature. It is important to develop the novel, fast, highly efficient and sensitive chiral separation technique in many research areas, such as stereoselective synthesis of enantiomers, pharmacology, chiral compounds purity check and environment monitoring. Herein, the recent applications of different types of nanoparticles such as polymer nanoparticles, magnetic nanoparticles, gold nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes in enantioseparation by CE/MC are reviewed, and the future developments in this area are also prospected.