Chemical stability of polyacrylamide-coating on fused silica capillary.

The chemical stability of polyacrylamide coatings on a fused silica capillary for capillary electrophoresis was investigated with respect to temperature of capillary and pH as well as salt concentration of running buffer solution by evaluating their effects on electroosmotic mobility. The capillary covalently bonded to linear polyacrylamide through Si-C linkage was stable in buffer solutions of pH 2.3-8.0 at 30 degrees C for 30 days, whereas the capillary bonded through Si-O-Si-C linkage was damaged at pH above 4.6. The electroosmotic mobility observed in both capillaries increased with increasing temperature, though the degree of increase was smaller in the Si-C linked capillary than in the Si-O-Si-C linked capillary. The increase in the buffer concentration resulted in increased electroosmotic mobility in the Si-O-Si-C linked capillary, but no effect was observed for the Si-C linked capillary.