Effect of Joule heating on isoelectric focusing of proteins in a microchannel

Electric field-driven separation and purification techniques, such as isoelectric focusing (IEF) and isotachophoresis, generate heat in the system that can affect the performance of the separation process. In this study, a new mathematical model is presented for IEF that considers the temperature rise due to Joule heating. We used the model to study focusing phenomena and separation performance in a microchannel. A finite volume-based numerical technique is developed to study temperature-dependent IEF. Numerical simulation for narrow range IEF (6 < pH < 10) is performed in a straight microchannel for 100 ampholytes and two model proteins: staphylococcal nuclease and pancreatic ribonuclease. Separation results of the two proteins are obtained with and without considering the temperature rise due to Joule heating in the system for a nominal electric field of 100 V/cm. For the no Joule heating case, constant properties are used, while for the Joule heating case, temperature-dependent titration curves and thermo-physical properties are used. Our numerical results show that the temperature change due to Joule heating has a significant impact on the final focusing points of proteins, which can lower the separation performance considerably. In the absence of advection and any active cooling mechanism, the temperature increase is the highest at the mid-section of a microchannel. We also found that the maximum temperature in the system is a strong function of the [Formula: see text] value of the carrier ampholytes. Simulation results are also obtained for different values of applied electric fields in order to find the optimum working range considering the simulation time and buffer temperature. Moreover, the model is extended to study IEF in a straight microchip where pH is formed by supplying H(+) and OH(-), and the thermal analysis shows that the heat generation is negligible in ion supplied IEF.