(396f) Effect of Valence on Optimal Separation Times of Biomacromolecules for An Electrokinetic Couette-Based Separator

Separation of biomacromolecules for medical diagnostics, pharmaceutical applications, and bioprocesses is a multi-million dollar effort where even the minutest increase in the separation efficiency has a very healthy economical impact on the process or application. Antibiotics, proteins, and DNA are some key examples of biomacromolecules where new techniques and approaches for separation and or characterization are required or needed.

In this presentation, the authors will summarize recent work on models based on fundamental principles that allow for a systematic understanding of the role of valence in improving the optimal separation time of biomacromolecules. A scaling-based argument, rooted in area-averaging approaches, and convective-diffusive transport will be used to compute optimal separation times. These results will predict the effects of valence on these separation times and may be used to design and or optimize a Couette-based separation device. We will illustrate the approach for idealized geometries of capillary channels with proteins as model molecules.