Sensitive and selective capillary electrophoretic analysis of proteins by zirconia nanoparticle-enhanced copper (II)-catalyzed luminol-hydrogen peroxide chemiluminescence

► SDS interacts with and suppress the wall-adsorption of proteins. ► Sensitivity and selectivity of copper (II)-catalyzed chemiluminescence detection improved. ► Zirconia nanoparticles further improve the chemiluminescence and separation efficiency. ► The method is capable of detecting heme proteins in real samples.