A simple and highly stable free-flow electrophoresis device with thermoelectric cooling system

Complex assembly, inconvenient operations, poor control of Joule heating and leakage of solution are still fundamental issues greatly hindering application of free-flow electrophoresis (FFE) for preparative purpose in bio-separation. To address these issues, a novel FFE device was developed based on our previous work. Firstly, a new mechanical structure was designed for compact assembly of separation chamber, fast removal of air bubble, and good anti-leakage performance. Secondly, a highly efficient thermoelectric cooling system was used for dispersing Joule heating for the first time. The systemic experiments revealed the three merits: (i) 3 min assembly without any liquid leakage, 80 times faster than pervious FFE device designed by us or commercial device (4 h); (ii) 5 s removing of air bubble in chamber, 1000-fold faster than a normal one (2 h or more) and (iii) good control of Joule heating by the cooling system. These merits endowed the device high stable thermo- and hydro-dynamic flow for long-term separation even under high electric field of 63 V/cm. Finally, the developed device was used for up to 8 h continuous separation of 5 mg/mL fuchsin acid and purification of three model proteins of phycocyanin, myoglobin and cytochrome C, demonstrating the applicability of FFE. The developed FFE device has evident significance to the studies on stem cell, cell or organelle proteomics, and protein complex as well as micro- or nano-particles.