Capillary coatings effectively improve the separation performance of proteins in capillary electrophoresis, mainly by reducing protein adsorption onto the inner capillary wall and by regulating the electroosmotic flow (EOF) to accommodate the separation problem in hand. In the first part of this review the newest trends in dynamic and permanent capillary coatings are summarized and discussed in detail. In the second part the application of nanomaterials as novel capillary coating materials is conversed. Nanomaterials have great potential in capillary coating preparations based on their advantageous properties such as large surface-to-volume ratios and a wide variety of chemistry options. Finally, some future prospective of capillary coatings in the emerging field of proteomics are given.