ABSTRACT
Over the past ten years, there has been an explosion of interest in the development of analytical systems in the microchip format. CE is used both to manipulate fluids and to achieve separations [4] in these devices. Very fast, highly efficient separations have been reported for such microchip CE systems. The use of CE in the microchip format allows the use of high separation field strengths (which increases the efficiency of the separation) because the materials typically used to construct the microchips are very efficient in dissipating heat. Most microchip CE devices have been constructed using glass [4], but devices have also been fabricated from materials such as plastics [50], low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) [51], and poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) [52].
