Binary Oscillatory Cross-Flow Electrophoresis: Theory and Experiments

Abstract

In this article a novel electrophoretic separation technique, Binary Oscillatory Cross-flow Electrophoresis (BOCE), is described. The technique utilizes the interaction of an oscillatory electric field and a transverse oscillatory shear flow to create an active binary filter for the separation of charged protein species. An oscillatory electric field is applied across the narrow gap of a rectangular channel inducing a periodic motion of charged protein species. The amplitude of this motion depends on the dimensionless electrophoretic mobility, α=Eoµ/ωd, where Eo is the amplitude of the electric field oscillations, µ is the dimensional mobility, ω is the angular frequency of oscillation, and d is the channel gap width. An oscillatory shear flow of the form ū=Δxω(β+cos(2ωt)) where β is the fraction of steady flow and Δx is the tidal displacement, is induced along the length of the channel resulting in the separation of species with different mobilities. An analytic model is presented that predicts the induced convective velocity of solute species as a function of α and β in the absence of diffusion. Numerical simulations including diffusion support these predictions, and determine the time history of the concentration profiles in a separation cell and connecting reservoirs. In experiments using a model protein system including bovine serum albumen (BSA) and bovine hemoglobin (BHb), solute throughputs of 37mg/h of 92% pure BSA have been observed in a small separation cell with a volume of 3mL. These results are in close agreement with theoretical predictions.