Peak broadening in capillary zone electrophoresis.

A review on peak broadening in capillary zone electrophoresis in free solutions is given which covers a selection of the literature published on this topic over the period mainly between 1992 and the beginning of 1997 (consisting of 71 publications). The contributions to peak dispersion from extracolumn effects (e.g. due to the finite length of the injection zone, or the aperture of the detector), from longitudinal diffusion, Joule heating, electromigration dispersion (concentration overload), a different path length of the solute ions, wall adsorption, laminar flow and the (longitudinally) homogeneous or nonhomogeneous electroosmotic flow are described. The latter may also occur when a longitudinally nonhomogeneous radial electric field is applied. Peak dispersion is depicted either by the plate-height model, or the concentration of the solute as a function of space and time is calculated either analytically or numerically by solving the equation of continuity with appropriate initial and boundary conditions and possibly completed by equations governing further quantities.