Influence of Alternating Electric Fields on Protein Crystallization in Microfluidic Devices with Patterned Electrodes in a Parallel-Plate Configuration

Abstract

Improved control over protein nucleation is important to advance the design and operation of protein separation and purification processes. The influence of nonuniform electric fields induced by patterned indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes of various shapes and surface areas on protein nucleation in microfluidic devices with parallel electrodes is investigated experimentally. In particular, the impact of various electrode designs and electric-field properties on the solid-state form, induction time, nucleation rate, and the location of lysozyme crystals is described. The results demonstrate that both enhanced and inhibited protein crystallization can be observed depending on the specifics of electrode shape and surface area and electric-field properties. The nucleation location of crystals is found to be influenced by both the ITO layer as a template and the nonuniform electric field induced by specific designs of electrodes. The optimal electric-field conditions and electrode design for enhancement of lys...