Chemistry Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
Electrophoresis. 2011 Jun;32(13):1647-53. doi: 10.1002/elps.201100083. Epub 2011 Jun 6.
A multicompartmental electrolyzer called ConFrac has been developed and tested for micropreparative-scale isoelectric trapping separations. ConFrac contains n separate, minimalistic isoelectric trapping core units, each with a separate anode compartment, anodic flow-through compartment, collection compartment, cathodic flow-through compartment and a shared cathode compartment. The collection compartments are all isolated from each other and have volumes of 100 μL each. The liquid held in the collection compartments is stagnant. The respective anodic and cathodic flow-through compartments are hydraulically serially connected to each other by flexible, minimum-length, narrow internal diameter tubes. The respective feed solutions whose volumes are larger and variable are recirculated through the serially connected flow-through compartments. Poly(vinyl alcohol)-based buffering membranes are placed between the anode compartments, anodic flow-through compartments, collection compartments, cathodic flow-through compartments and cathode compartment. The membranes establish two orthogonal pH gradients in ConFrac. The primary pH gradient is parallel with the direction of the recirculating flows and orthogonal to that of the electric field. The secondary pH gradient is parallel with the direction of the electric field and orthogonal to that of the recirculating flows. Since the recirculating liquids are kept in thermostated reservoirs and the residence times in the flow-through compartments are shorter than 2 s, ConFrac can tolerate power loads as high as 2 W without overheating the solutions. The operation and performance of ConFrac has been quantitatively characterized: four 25 μM ampholytic components were isolated from 5 mL of feed solution in 20 min and their concentration increased approximately 50-fold.
已经开发并测试了一种称为 ConFrac 的多隔室电解槽，用于微制备规模的等电聚焦分离。ConFrac 包含 n 个独立的、极简的等电聚焦核心单元，每个核心单元都有一个独立的阳极隔室、阳极流动通过隔室、收集隔室、阴极流动通过隔室和一个共享的阴极隔室。收集隔室彼此隔离，每个隔室的体积为 100μL。收集隔室中的液体处于停滞状态。各自的阳极和阴极流动通过隔室通过柔性、最短、小内径的管子在水力上串联连接。体积较大且可变的各自进料溶液通过串联的流动通过隔室循环。聚（乙烯醇）基缓冲膜放置在阳极隔室、阳极流动通过隔室、收集隔室、阴极流动通过隔室和阴极隔室之间。膜在 ConFrac 中建立了两个正交的 pH 梯度。主要 pH 梯度与循环流动的方向平行，与电场的方向正交。次要 pH 梯度与电场的方向平行，与循环流动的方向正交。由于循环液体保持在恒温储液器中，并且在流动通过隔室中的停留时间短于 2 秒，因此 ConFrac 可以承受高达 2 W 的功率负载而不会使溶液过热。已经对 ConFrac 的操作和性能进行了定量表征：从 5 mL 进料溶液中分离出四种 25 μM 的两性成分，在 20 分钟内，其浓度增加了约 50 倍。
