Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis the top to create the sample wells. After the gel is polymerized the comb can be removed and the gel is ready for electrophoresis. Various buffer systems are used in PAGE depending on the nature of the sample and the experimental objective. The buffers used at the anode and cathode may be the same or different. An electric field is applied across the gel, causing the negatively charged proteins or nucleic acids to migrate across the gel away from the negative electrode (which is the cathode being that this is an electrolytic rather than galvanic cell) and towards the positive
Silver chloride electrode chloride is a popular choice of biological electrodes due to its low half-cell potential of approximately 220 mV and the lower of the impedance of the electrode by silver chloride. When appropriately constructed, the silver chloride electrode can be used up to 300 °C. The standard potential (i.e., the potential when the chloride activity is 1 mol/kg) of the silver chloride electrode is a function of temperature as follows: Bard et al. give the following correlations for the standard potential of the silver chloride electrode between 0 and 95°C as a function of temperature (where t is temperature in °C):