Smart Control Unit

Transforming Purification with Digital Membrane Chromatography

Digital Membrane Chromatography (DMC) extends traditional membrane chromatography to include electrically controlled elution. Instead of releasing bound molecules solely through changes in buffer composition, pH, or salt concentration, i3 DMC makes this crucial process step electrically controllable. The smart control unit, i3 DMC Control, provides the required defined low voltage and triggers elution at a specified time.

At the heart of the DMC system is a compatible membrane adsorber, in which the chromatographic membrane is sandwiched between two gold-coated electrode membranes. The adsorber is connected to the control unit via integrated electrical contacts. As soon as the control unit applies a defined voltage, local electrochemical reactions occur at the electrodes. These reactions alter the conditions immediately at the membrane, influence the binding interactions, and trigger the release of the target molecules directly at the binding site.

The components perform clearly defined tasks: The i3 DMC membrane adsorber binds and separates the target molecules via Protein A or ionic functional groups. The i3 DMC Control manages the electrically driven elution, while the FPLC system controls the liquid flow. Together, the membrane adsorber and control unit form the DMC system, which can be integrated into existing FPLC workflows via the adsorber’s Luer-Lock connections.
Voltage, application duration, buffer composition, and conductivity influence DMC elution. With individual voltage steps, presets, and custom sequences, the i3 DMC Control can be tailored to the validated protocol of the respective membrane adsorber and application. In this way, digital membrane chromatography brings a new level of process control to purification workflows in discovery and analytics.