The problem of the effect of Joule heating generation on the hydrodynamic profile and the solute transport found in electrophoretic devices is addressed in this article. The research is focused on the following two problems: The first one is centered around the effect of Joule heating on the hydrodynamic velocity profile and it is referred to as "the carrier fluid problem." The other one is related to the effect of Joule heating on the solute transport inside electrophoretic cells and it is referred to as "the solute problem". The hydrodynamic aspects were studied first to yield the velocity profiles required for analysis of the solute transport problem. The velocity profile obtained in this study is analytical and the results are valid for non-Newtonian fluids carriers. To this end, the power-law model was used to study the effect of the rheology of the material in conjunction with the effect of Joule heating generation inside batch electrophoretic devices. This aspect of the research was then effectively used to study the effect of Joule heating generation on the motion of solutes (such as macromolecules) under the influence of non-Newtonian carriers. This aspect of the study was performed using an area-averaging approach that yielded analytical results for the effective diffusivity of the device

Mixing and dispersion phenomena caused by the carrier fluid in an electrophoretic cell is the main subject of this study. In particular, the effects of Joule heating on temperature and velocity profiles for Eyring-model fluids (EMF) are studied. The heat transfer is sequentially coupled with momentum transfer to derive an analytical expression for both the temperature and the velocity profiles. These results are then used to show the hydrodynamic behavior of the fluid in a batch electrophoretic cell. Furthermore, the results obtained are useful to compare with the fluid behavior of other carriers of different rheology, such as Newtonian fluids, power-law fluids, and viscoelastic fluids that obey the CEF model. The results show that EMF are potentially good carriers for relatively high Joule heat generation and therefore good candidates to control mixing inside the electrophoretic cell.

The main objective of this study is analysis of dispersive mixing inside a batch electrophoretic cell due to Joule heating, especially for the case of non-Newtonian carriers. To this end, a carrier fluid that follows the Eyring rheological model is used in the analysis of the species convective-diffusive equation that describes the solute motion inside the device. The hydrodynamic problem (Bosse, M. A. et al., Electrophoresis 2002, 23, 2149-2156) of the electrophoretic cell is sequentially coupled to this equation. Then, by following a procedure based on the area-averaging method, an effective diffusion coefficient is obtained. This equation is the first a priori design equation for devices such as the ones analyzed in this contribution. It is useful in determining mixing conditions for the values of the relevant parameters of the physical system. The results of this analysis are used to study the cell behavior under several conditions imposed by their main parameters. Finally, some suggestions are offered about the use of Eyring fluids as potential carriers useful for controlling dispersive mixing in batch electrophoretic cells.