Automated Mobility Measurements

Wyatt Technology Corporation has announced the release of its innovative zeta potential instrument, the Möbius™, at PITTCON 2012. The Möbius has been developed to automate the measurement of the mobility and the hydrodynamic radius of precious protein samples, increasing throughput without modifying the species. Additionally, the instrument is designed to facilitate analyses in high-saline conditions, expanding the capability of the laboratory.

Previously, conventional batch-mode zeta potential instrumentation has been incapable of automating macromolecular particle electrophoretic mobility for multiple samples. Used with an HPLC pump and an autosampler, the Möbius can overcome this challenge, presenting an automated and cost-effective instrument for protein analysis.

The Möbius offers a unique cell, designed as a closed system, which accepts sample delivery from an autosampler. Once the sample injection sequence is implemented and synchronized with a data acquisition schedule in its Dynamics™ software, automated measurement of multiple samples is enabled. This eliminates the need for manual injection, helping to increase laboratory productivity and maximizing time-efficiency. With the additional possibility of a buffer injection in between samples further enhanced by a wash sequence, cross contamination of cells is minimized, helping to ensure data accuracy.

Aqueous samples with conductivities near or above the physiological saline condition have proven to be a challenge for zeta potential instruments. As electric current is passed through a conductive sample, electrochemical redox reactions bring about electrolysis on the surface of the electrodes. Inevitably, gas bubbles evolve to distort the driving electric field and compromise the light scattering signal used for the measurements.

Wyatt Technology has developed a system for use alongside the Möbius to overcome this challenge. Wyatt’s Atlas™ hardware pressurizes the cell, preventing bubble formation. As a result, previously problematic mobility analyses are now routine.