Journal of Chromatography & Separation Techniques
Open Access

Electrophoresis

Electrophoresis is defined as the movement of charged particles in a fluid or gel under the influence of an electric field. Electrophoresis is a separations technique that is based on the mobility of ions in an electric field.

Positively charged ions migrate towards a negative conductor and negatively-charged ions migrate toward a positive conductor. For safety reasons one electrode is usually at ground and the other is biased positively or negatively. Ions have different migration rates depending on their total charge, size, and shape, and can therefore be separated. Instrumentation An electrode apparatus consists of a high-voltage supply, electrodes, buffer, and a support for the buffer such as filter paper, cellulose acetate strips, polyacrylamide gel, or a capillary tube. Open capillary tubes are used for many types of samples and the other supports are usually used for biological samples such as protein mixtures or DNA fragments. After a separation is completed the support is stained to visualize the separated components.

Related Journals of Electrophoresis
Journal of Chromatography & Separation Techniques, Separation technology: I. Chromatography, Journal of Chromatography A – separations, Journal of Liquid Chromatography and Related Technologies.