Steady-state electrophoresis: a technique for measuring physical properties of macro-ions

The basic theory of a newly discovered physical technique, steady-state electrophoresis, is described followed by analyses of several representative macro-ion systems with the technique. This method measures apparent moments of molar diminished charge (defined below) of solvated macro-ions from an analysis of a concentration gradient of the macro-ions stabilized against a semipermeable membrane by the opposing forces of diffusion and an external electric field. The experimental results confirm that the theory adequately describes the behavior of the macro-ion systems at electrophoretic steady state and suggest applications for the technique in addition to measuring macro-ion-small ion interactions.