Miniaturised free flow isotachophoresis of bacteria using an injection moulded separation device

A new design of miniaturised free flow electrophoresis device has been produced. The design contains a separation chamber that is 45 mm long by 31.7 mm wide with a depth of 50 μm and has nine inlet and nine outlet holes to allow for fraction collection. The devices were formed of polystyrene with carbon fibre loaded polystyrene drive electrodes and produced using injection moulding. This means that the devices are low cost and can potentially be mass produced. The devices were used for free flow isotachophoresis (FFITP), a technique that can be used for focussing and concentrating analytes contained within complex sample matrices. The operation of the devices was demonstrated by performing separations of dyes and bacterial samples. Analysis of the output from FFITP separations of samples containing the bacterium Erwinia herbicola, a biological pathogen, by cell culturing and counting showed that fractionation of the output was achieved.

► A new design of injection moulded free flow electrophoresis separation device has been produced.
► The new design of device has been successfully used for free flow isotachophoresis separations.
► Bacteria samples were separated and fractionated using the device.