Separation and on-line concentration of bisphenol A and alkylphenols by micellar electrokinetic chromatography with cationic surfactant.

The separation and on-line concentration of bisphenol A and three alkylphenols were investigated by micellar electrokinetic chromatography with cationic surfactant. Tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide was used as surfactant and the separation conditions were optimized by the addition of the organic solvents and cyclodextrins to the running solution. The separation of hydrophobic analytes and 4-nonylphenol isomers was improved by the addition of 20% acetonitrile and 20 mM beta-cyclodextrin to the running solution. When the sweeping with the running solution used as the on-line concentration procedure, 56-, 67- and 29-fold increase in detection sensitivity of bisphenol A, 4-tert.-butylphenol and 4-(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)phenol, respectively. The detection limits were 0.030, 0.098 and 0.159 mg/l, respectively.