An Aluminum Heat Sink and Radiator for Electrophoresis Capillaries

Abstract

An aluminum heat sink and radiator are used with forced air cooling of an electrophoresis capillary. Theoretical analyses of the operating limits and heat dissipation characteristics are presented. A system designed for power dissipation as high as 5 W is shown to dissipate heat efficiently and to operate without arcing at voltages higher than 30 kV.

Monitoring Temperature Changes in Capillary Electrophoresis with Nanoliter-Volume NMR Thermometry

“…To minimize the deleterious effects of Joule heating, several strategies have been examined. For instance, capillary cooling systems enable the use of higher electric field strengths to achieve faster and improved separations; degradation of unstable analytes, deterioration of separation efficiency, and unwanted bubble formation can be decreased through proper thermal control. − An alternative approach to prevent excessive intracapillary heating involves the use of nonaqueous separation media through which lower electrical currents translate into lower temperatures for a given field strength. , In addition to these efforts to avoid temperature extremes, there have also been numerous reports of electroseparations that benefit from accurate control of intracapillary temperature. Investigations of thermally induced conformational changes of proteins − and the effects of temperature on DNA separations have demonstrated the importance of accurate and precise thermal regulation in CE.…”

High-Speed Separation of Linear and Supercoiled DNA by Capillary Electrophoresis. Buffer, Entangling Polymer, and Electric Field Effects

“…Supercoiled plasmid separations are not severely compromised by operation at high electric field strength. Effective heat sinking allows operation of conventional capillaries at field strengths as high as 1500 V/cm …”