HIGH-RESOLUTION CONTINUOUS-FLOW ELECTROPHORESIS

Continuous free-flow electrophoresis (CFE) provides the biochemist with a powerful technique for preparative-scale purification of labile biomolecules. However, solute resolution in the classic CFE is limited by the deleterious effects of diffusion, electroosmotic dispersion, and convective dispersion. These problems can be overcome in the CFE by continuously recycling effluent through the chamber in a manner which allows complete recovery of undiluted product at arbitrarily high purities. Mathematical models of the continuous flow device with recycle (RCFE) are derived for the two limiting cases: rapid diffusion and slow diffusion. The analytical solutions of these models are used to predict separation factors under various operating conditions.