title: "Getting the best sensitivity from on-capillary fluorescence detection in capillary electrophoresis" - A tutorial.
abstract: Capillary electrophoresis with Laser-Induced Fluorescence (CE-LIF) detection is being applied to new analytical problems which challenge both the power of CE separation and the sensitivity of LIF detection. On-capillary LIF detection is much more practical than post-capillary detection in a sheath-flow cell. Therefore, commercial CE instruments utilize solely on-capillary CE-LIF detection with a Limit of Detection (LOD) in the nM range, while there are multiple applications of CE-LIF that require pM or lower LODs. This tutorial analyzes all aspects of on-capillary LIF detection in CE in an attempt to identify means for improving LOD of CE-LIF with on-capillary detection. We consider principles of signal enhancement and noise reduction, as well as relevant areas of fluorophore photochemistry and fluorescent microscopy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Centre for Research on Biomolecular Interactions, York University, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada.
authors.forename: Victor A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Galievsky
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Centre for Research on Biomolecular Interactions, York University, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada.
authors.forename: Alexander S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Stasheuski
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Centre for Research on Biomolecular Interactions, York University, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada. Electronic address: skrylov@yorku.ca.
authors.forename: Sergey N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Krylov
keywords: Capillary electrophoresis; Highly-sensitive detection; Laser-induced fluorescence; Limit of detection; Optical filtration; Signal-to-noise ratio