Assessing Performance of Irregular Microvoids in Electrophoresis Separations

Abstract

Within the last decade, novel gel materials with a modified internal morphology have been synthesized and are available for a wide range of applications including drug delivery, separation of biomolecules with relevance in clinical diagnostics, electrokinetic pumping, and sensors 1-3 . One way to achieve this internal modification is to embed nanoparticles into the polymer matrix, so that when an electrical field is applied to the system, the presence of these particles can change the biomacromolecule transport through the gel, possibly altering the separation 4 . As a result, gaining a very deep understanding of the role that these nanoparticles can have on the separation efficiency in terms of electrophoresis techniques becomes very important. To the best of our knowledge, this contribution is the first effort that examines the role of morphology (in the form of a axially-diverging microdomain) on the prediction of optimal separation times for two protein models when they are subjected to electrophoresis. The research conducted predicts that the optimal separation time of a short, straight pore yields the best resolution in this type of electrophoretic separation.

Understanding Collaborative Effects between the Polymer Gel Structure and the Applied Electrical Field in Gel Electrophoresis Separation

“…This implies that the effective dispersion decreases as the pore tends to be more strait in their shape. The results are consistent (qualitatively) with those published by Simhadri [14]. This type of results is a clear indication of the dramatic role played by the geometry of the domain on the values of the effective transport coefficients that control the motion of the macromolecules inside the pores of the gel matrix.…”

“…The effects of these geometrical parameters as well as the molecule charges and the magnitude of the applied orthogonal electrical field on the optimal separation time are illustrated. Furthermore, a qualitative agreement between the predictions reported here with those published by Simhadri et al [14] is observed. Both predictions (those communicated here and those by Simhadri et al [14]) are in agreement with experimental evidences reported by Thompson et al [17].…”

“…To the best of our knowledge, this is the first analytical-based contribution in this subject. A computational-based approach was reported by Simhadri et al [14].…”

“…As opposed to a sudden change in the cross-sectional area of flow in the gel-pore domain [11], Simhadri et al [14] reported a computational analysis based on pores of rectangular geometry with an axially varying cross section. The current contribution examines the role of the same pore geometry, also with a rectangular diverging pore from an analytical point of view, i.e., a continuously axially varying cross section of the gel-pore domain (linear fashion) and its effect on the prediction of optimal separation times coupled with an orthogonal applied electrical field (constant).…”

“…One of the advantages of using the EKHD approach is that the universal or generalized dispersion coefficients (see Section 4) as well as the optimal separation time are explicit functions of the geometrical parameters controlling/affecting the morphology of the pore domain of the gel matrix and the applied orthogonal electrical field. This is an advantage with respect to computational simulations [14] where the relation of the effective transport coefficients, with geometrical parameters of the pore domain, is not explicit.…”