High-resolution modeling of isotachophoresis and zone electrophoresis

The space-time conservation element and solution element (CESE) method is applied to simulate the ITP and zone electrophoresis (ZE) separation phenomena. The CESE method expresses the governing equation in the integral form of the conservation law, and has a second-order accuracy in both space and time. The current results show that the CESE solutions for the ITP and ZE phenomena are more accurate than those obtained using conventional numerical schemes, which are characterized by serious numerical diffusion and oscillation. Furthermore, the CESE method suppresses the numerical oscillations or peaks observed in the results obtained using traditional second-order finite difference schemes. Finally, the results reveal that the CESE method accurately models the sharp boundaries between adjacent ITP samples under steady-state conditions. Overall, the results presented in this study demonstrate the numerical accuracy of the CESE method and confirm its applicability to the modeling of a range of electrophoretic phenomena.