Application of molecularly imprinted polymer particles in capillary electrochromatography

Molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) particles prepared by molecular imprinting technique (MIT) possess the ability of specific identification and selective affinity towards template molecules and their structural analogues. They also have a large specific surface area and rapid mass transfer kinetics, thus they have been widely used as stationary phases in liquid chromatography and matrixes in solid phase extraction. Using MIP particles as capillary electrochromatography (CEC) stationary phase, which combines the high speed and efficiency of CEC with the high affinity and selectivity of MIP, has become one of the most promising separation technique in analytical science. There are several different strategies of MIP particles applied in CEC: as packing materials packed into a capillary column; as entrapping materials entrapped into different matrix frameworks inside a capillary column; as pseudostationary phases (PSPs) added into the running buffer of CEC. This review focuses on the recent developments of MIP particles in CEC and prospects the future developments in this field.