Poly(ethylene glycol)-functionalized polymeric microchips for capillary electrophoresis.
Recently, we reported the synthesis, fabrication, and preliminary evaluation of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-functionalized polymeric microchips that are inherently resistant to protein adsorption without surface modification in capillary electrophoresis (CE). In this study, we investigated the impact of cross-linker purity and addition of methyl methacrylate (MMA) as a comonomer on CE performance. Impure poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) induced electroosmotic flow (EOF) and increased the separation time, while the addition of MMA decreased the separation efficiency to approximately 25% of that obtained using microchips fabricated without MMA. Resultant improved microchips were evaluated for the separation of fluorescent dyes, amino acids, peptides, and proteins. A CE efficiency of 4.2 x 10(4) plates for aspartic acid in a 3.5 cm long microchannel was obtained. Chiral separation of 10 different D,L-amino acid pairs was obtained with addition of a chiral selector (i.e., beta-cyclodextrin) in the running buffer. Selectivity (alpha) and resolution (R(s)) for D,L-leucine were 1.16 and 1.64, respectively. Good reproducibility was an added advantage of these PEG-functionalized microchips.
Sun
Xuefei
X
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602, USA.
Li
Dan
D
Lee
Milton L
ML
D000596:Amino Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D019075:Electrophoresis, Capillary / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D056656:Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; D046208:Microchip Analytical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D009995:Osmosis; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000032:analysis*; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry*; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate / Q000737:chemistry*; D011506:Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013499:Surface Properties
D000596:Amino Acids; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011506:Proteins; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate