PeakMaster

What is PeakMaster?

PeakMaster is software which was developed in our group. It is a freeware program useful for people engaged in capillary zone electrophoresis. It predicts parameters of background electrolytes and analyte peaks. Moreover, it can serve as a precise tool for the calculation of pH of electrolyte solutions. It includes Onsager-Fuoss correction of mobilities for ionic strength and Debye-Hückel calculations of activity coefficients.

PeakMaster allows for the optimization of the composition of background electrolytes to give enhanced detector sensitivity and sufficient resolution of analytes while still maintaining acceptable dispersive properties.

PeakMaster - how does it work?

  • First, you input the composition of the background electrolyte containing any number of constituents, which can be weak or strong acids or bases or amphoteric electrolytes like aminoacids or peptides. The maximum valence (either positive or negative) is four. The resulting background electrolyte (BGE) is allowed to be highly acidic or alkaline (usable pH range from 0 to 14).
  • Possibly you input the names of the analyte ions in the sample injected and some experimental characteristics of your equipment. PeakMaster includes a database based on Takeshi Hirokawa's tables with the data of many ions.
  • After clicking the Calculate button, PeakMaster performs the following actions:
    • it calculates background electrolyte characteristics: pH, ionic strength, conductivity, buffer capacity, or concentrations of the individual ionic forms of BGE constituents,
    • it calculates electrophoretic characteristics of the analytes: effective mobility, dispersion tendency, signals in direct detection or conductivity detection or indirect UV detection,
    • it simulates electropherograms of a given mixture of analytes,
    • it calculates system eigenmobilities of the BGE. The system eigenmobilities are a problematic feature of the BGEs. The existence of system eigenmobilities indicates that certain entities in the electrophoretic system move with such mobilities in a driving electric field. At least one of the eigenmobilities is almost always very close to zero and is a cause for the injection zone (or water dip, or water gap), which can serve as a marker of the electroosmotic flow. In rather acidic or alkaline BGEs or in BGEs containing multiple coions or in BGEs with a multivalent co-constituent, there are one or more eigenmobilities other than zero. Those system eigenmobilities cause either (i) the appearance of system peaks (system eigenpeaks) moving with the velocity corresponding to the eigenmobility, or (ii) the resonance phenomenon. Due to the resonance, a zig-zag peak shape should occur when using indirect UV detection or conductivity detection at the position of the analyte.
    • it simulates shapes of the system peaks (i.e., system eigenpeaks) moving with the velocity corresponding to the eigenmobility.

Download PeakMaster 5.3

    Click here to download PeakMaster 5.3 as a packed zip file.

    Microsoft Windows environment is needed to install and run PeakMaster. The program is packed in the file 'PeakMaster 5.3 Release 2011.zip'. After downloading and unpacking, copy the directory 'PeakMaster 5.3 Release 2011' to the position in which you wish to have it. Double click the 'PeakMaster.exe' to run it.

Download PeakMaster 5.4

NEW

    Click here to download PeakMaster 5.4 as a packed zip file.

    PeakMaster 5.4. has updated calculation in "Amplitudes and Shapes" mode. Computation of pH response for eigenzones has been modified for better correspondence with experimental pH of eigenzones. The value of pH response now represents pH value of the system zone, calculated from its composition given by amplitudes. The real amplitude is then lowered by diffusion and electromigration dispersion of the system zone.

    Microsoft Windows environment is needed to install and run PeakMaster. The program is packed in the file 'PeakMaster 5.4 Release.zip'. After downloading and unpacking, copy the directory 'PeakMaster 5.4 Release' to the position in which you wish to have it. Double click the 'PeakMaster.exe' to run it.