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Aqueous two-phase extraction for bovine serum albumin (BSA) with co-laminar flow in a simple coaxial capillary microfluidic device

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Abstract

Microfluidic extraction based on a co-laminar flow of aqueous two-phase system is used to separate bovine serum albumin (BSA). Mass transfer between the continuous two-phase flows is demonstrated by the extraction of BSA in a microfluidic device. The protein concentrations of the BSA samples were determined using the Bradford method. Polyethylene glycol 4000 and ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4) served as model aqueous two-phase solutions. The appropriate flow rates of the aqueous two phases were thus determined. We can flexibly control the mass transfer area and time by simply adjusting the flow rate. It takes only 3.6 s for three extraction cycles in a coaxial microfluidic device to achieve a BSA recovery yield of 71.1 %, which is superior to the traditional beaker aqueous two-phase extraction process. In this study, co-laminar flow-based continuous microextraction is demonstrated and its mass transfer is analyzed by solving the diffusion model, based on a large specific interfacial area and surface renewal.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21106115) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (SWJTU12CX049, SWJTU11ZT25). Tao Meng thanks the China Scholarship Council (201208510015). The authors thank Prof. Liang-Yin Chu (Sichuan University) for his enthusiastic support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Sciences and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 610031, China

    Yushi Huang, Tao Meng, Ting Guo, Wei Li, Weili Yan, Xueru Li, Shu Wang & Zhiping Tong

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  1. Yushi Huang
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  2. Tao Meng
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  3. Ting Guo
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  4. Wei Li
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  5. Weili Yan
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  6. Xueru Li
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  7. Shu Wang
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  8. Zhiping Tong
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Correspondence to Tao Meng or Ting Guo.

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Yushi Huang and Tao Meng have contributed equally to the work.

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Huang, Y., Meng, T., Guo, T. et al. Aqueous two-phase extraction for bovine serum albumin (BSA) with co-laminar flow in a simple coaxial capillary microfluidic device. Microfluid Nanofluid 16, 483–491 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-013-1245-2

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