Arc Effect on Charged Ion Migration in Capillary Zone Electrophoresis Using Hybrid Finite Element and Particle-in-Cell Method

Analytes separated by capillary zone electrophoresis are governed by ion migration. The study proposed a hybrid finite element and particle-in-cell method to simulate ion migration in the cross-channel capillary zone electrophoresis system. Different to the traditional numerical method, this method can be used to handle the migration of differently charged ions for complex geometry and boundary conditions. The research focuses on the arc effect on the migration phenomena of the positive and negative ions in the injection and separation process. The results indicate that arc effect can affect obviously the migration phenomena of analytes. In the injection process, the charged ions migrate not only faster into the separation channel but also more far away from the injection channel with increasing the corner arc radius. In the separation process, the zones of charged ions are wider and the time to completely separate is longer with increasing the corner arc radius. Consequently, as corner arc radius is larger, more time is needed to inject and separate charged ions. These findings have significant implications for design and control of capillary zone electrophoresis systems.