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. 2014 Feb 19;9(2):e89416.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0089416. eCollection 2014.

Conducting polymer electrodes for gel electrophoresis

Katarina Bengtsson  1 , Sara Nilsson  1 , Nathaniel D Robinson  1
Affiliations

Conducting polymer electrodes for gel electrophoresis

Katarina Bengtsson et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

In nearly all cases, electrophoresis in gels is driven via the electrolysis of water at the electrodes, where the process consumes water and produces electrochemical by-products. We have previously demonstrated that π-conjugated polymers such as poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) can be placed between traditional metal electrodes and an electrolyte to mitigate electrolysis in liquid (capillary electroosmosis/electrophoresis) systems. In this report, we extend our previous result to gel electrophoresis, and show that electrodes containing PEDOT can be used with a commercial polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis system with minimal impact to the resulting gel image or the ionic transport measured during a separation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have read the journal’s policy and have the following conflicts: author Nathaniel D. Robinson owns a part of a company (Lunavation AB) that owns a daughter company (LunaMicro AB), which holds the following patent and pending applications for the use of pi-conjugated polymer electrodes for microfluidic and electrophoretic applications: Swedish patent SE534488 (Ett system för elektrokinetisk flödesteknik), and patent applications WO2011102801, EP2011744981, JP2012553852, and US13580343 (An electrokinetic fluidic system). There are no further patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter the authors’ adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Schematic of the electrochemical cell tested with PEDOT:PSS electrodes.
The Pt wires were inserted into the SDS Buffer Strips for the reference experiments.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Comparison between Pt and PEDOT:PSS electrodes in the PhastSystem - Voltage.
The potential applied by the PhastSystem while it maintains a constant current (1 mA, see table 1) through equivalent 11-mm-wide PA gels with Pt electrodes (solid black squares) and PEDOT:PSS electrodes (blue circles) as a function of time.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Comparison between Pt and PEDOT:PSS electrodes – current measured at 1 V.
Current versus time measured through an electrochemical cell with Pt electrodes (solid black curve) and PEDOT:PSS electrodes (dashed blue curve) for an applied potential of 1 V, where water electrolysis occurs only extremely slowly in a measurement system including a dedicated source-measure unit.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Comparison between Pt and PEDOT:PSS electrodes – current measured at 100 V.
Current driven through equivalent 11-mm-wide PA gels as a function of time when 100 V was applied via Pt electrodes (solid black line) and PEDOT:PSS electrodes (dashed blue line).
Figure 5
Figure 5. Comparison between Pt and PEDOT:PSS electrodes – gel images.
Images of the Rainbow Marker separated in an 11-mm-wide PHAST PAGE gel showing the equivalence of the separation of GE Healthcare’s Full Range Rainbow Recombinant Protein Molecular Weight Marker driven with PEDOT:PSS electrodes (left) and with Pt electrodes (right). Protein migration has been driven from the cathode (top) to toward the anode (bottom) using the PhastSystem conditions shown in table 1.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Minden JS, Dowd SR, Meyer HE, Stühler K (2009) Difference gel electrophoresis. Electrophoresis 30: S156–S161. - PubMed
    1. Thackeray JW, White HS, Wrighton MS (1985) Poly(3-methylthiophene)-Coated Electrodes - Optical and Electrical Properties as a Function of Redox Potential and Amplification of Electrical and Chemical Signals Using Poly(3-methylthiophene)-Based Microelectrochemical Transistors. Journal of Physical Chemistry 89: 5133–5140.
    1. Robinson ND, Svensson P-O, Nilsson D, Berggren M (2006) On the current saturation observed in electrochemical polymer transistors. Journal of the Electrochemical Society 153: H39–H44.
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    1. Isaksson J, Kjall P, Nilsson D, Robinson N, Berggren M, et al. (2007) Electronic control of Ca2+ signalling in neuronal cells using an organic electronic ion pump. Nature Materials 6: 673–679. - PubMed

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