Fractionation of nanoparticles by preparative gel electrophoresis

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Gel electrophoresis is an established method for the highly selective analytical and preparative fractionation of macromolecules. The separation of nanoparticles by gel electrophoresis has been studied in some works, however it has hardly been studied for application-relevant materials such as metal oxides, and general process knowledge enabling the fast and efficient purification is missing. The aim of this project is to establish gel electrophoresis fractionation of metal oxide nanoparticles and to perform extensive process investigations. By using model materials with defined properties, such as spherical SiO2 nanoparticles with variable size and ZnO nanostructures with different, controllable morphologies and defined surface chemistry, a broad understanding of the suitability of this method for the fractionation of nanoparticles is developed. Furthermore, a specially designed 2D gel electrophoresis device is used on the one hand for the preparative (semi-) continuous separation and, on the other hand, for a multidimensional separation according to e.g. size and surface charge. This is complemented by mathematical modelling, first based on empirical results, and is extended in the second project phase by a simulation taking into account the gel structure.