Negative‐pressure‐induced collector for a self‐balance free‐flow electrophoresis device

Abstract

Uneven flow in free-flow electrophoresis (FFE) with a gravity-induced fraction collector caused by air bubbles in outlets and/or imbalance of the surface tension of collecting tubes would result in a poor separation. To solve these issues, this work describes a novel collector for FFE. The collector is composed of a self-balance unit, multisoft pipe flow controller, fraction collector, and vacuum pump. A negative pressure induced continuous air flow rapidly flowed through the self-balance unit, taking the background electrolyte and samples into the fraction collector. The developed collector has the following advantages: (i) supplying a stable and harmonious hydrodynamic environment in the separation chamber for FFE separation, (ii) effectively preventing background electrolyte and sample flow-back at the outlet of the chamber and improving the resolution, (iii) increasing the preparative scale of the separation, and (iv) simplifying the operation. In addition, the cost of the FFE device was reduced without using a multichannel peristaltic pump for sample collection. Finally, comparative FFE experiments on dyes, proteins, and cells were carried out. It is evident that the new developed collector could overcome the problems inherent in the previous gravity-induced self-balance collector.

Investigating peak dispersion in free‐flow counterflow gradient focusing

“…Moreover, $${\sigma _{{\rm{min}}}}$$ in FFZE depends strongly on the $$z$$‐velocity, which may also restrict sample throughput [10]. Finally, the focusing mechanism in FF‐CGF will provide additional forgiveness when there are pressure fluctuations caused by the pump [39].…”

Separation and purification of active ingredients in tobacco by free-flow electrophoresis

“…The developed FFE apparatus has been used to separate the gold ore noble liquid, proteins, cells, phycocyanin, and so on. [18][19][20][21][22][23][24] In this study, tobacco extracts were continuously separated and puried using a homemade free-ow electrophoresis apparatus. The chlorogenic acid and nicotine from dried tobacco extracts were successfully separated and puried using the advantages of recoverability, continuous purication, and continuous preparation of the free-ow electrophoresis method.…”

Experimental study on the optimization of general conditions for a free‐flow electrophoresis device with a thermoelectric cooler†

“…However, less attention was given to preparative‐FFE because of several limitations: laborious assembly of separation chamber and time‐consuming removal of bubbles . To address these issues, we recently developed a new FFE device by using a thermoelectric cooler for dissipating Joule heating and innovative designs for assembly of separation chamber, obviously enhancing the convenience .…”