Abstract
A major concern in cell and bioactive agent immobilization has been the production of very small microbeads to minimize the mass transfer resistance problem associated with large diameter beads (i.e., >1000 µm) (1). Conventional technology involves production of alginate beads with diameters ranging from 500–2000 µm using compressed air to quickly pass the cell/gel solution through a nozzle (2). Surprisingly, only recently have attempts been made in the application of electric fields to the production of micron-size polymer beads for cell immobilization (3–8). The two primary advantages of electrostatic droplet generation, over, for example, an air jet extruder, are the production of much smaller beads with conventional needles and ease of bead size control by simply varying the applied potential.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsSpringer Nature is developing a new tool to find and evaluate Protocols. Learn more
References
Fonsecam, M., Black, G. M., and Webb, C. (1986) Reactor configuration for immobilized cells, in Process Engineering Aspects of Immobilized Cell System Institution of Chemical Engineers, Rugby, Warwickshire, UK, pp. 63–70.
Klein, J., Stock, J., Vorlop, D. K. (1983) Pore size and properties of spherical calcium alginate biocatalysts. Eur. J. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol 18, 86–92.
Goosen, M. F. A., O’Shea, G. M., Gharapetian, H., and Sun, A. M. (1986) Immobilization of living cells in bio-compatible semipermeable microcapsules: biomedical and potential biochemical engineering applications, in Polymers in Medicine (Chiellini, E., ed.), Plenum, New York, pp. 235–246.
Bugarski, B., Li, Q., Goosen, M. F. A., Poncelet, D., Neufeld, R. J., and Vunjak, G. (1994) Electrostatic droplet generation: mechanism of polymer droplet formation. Am. Inst. Chem. Engineers. J. 40(6), 1026–1031.
Sun, A. M. (1994) Microencapsulation as bioartificial organs: allografts and xenografts, in Pancreatic Islet Transplantation, vol. III: Immunoisolation of Pancreatic Islets (Lanza, R. P. and Chick, W. L., eds.), R. G. Landes, Austin, TX, pp. 45–58.
Bugarski, B., Amsden, B., Neufeld, R. J., Poncelet, D., and Goosen, M. F. A. (1994) Effect of electrode geometry and charge on the production of polymer microbeads by electrostatics, Canad. J. Chem. Engineer. 72, 517–521.
Bugarski, B., Smith, J., Wu, J., and Goosen, M. F. A. (1993) Methods for animal cell immobilization using electrostatic droplet generation, Biotechniq. Techniq. 7, 677–682.
Goosen, M.F.A. (1994) Fundamentals of microencapsulation, in Pancreatic Islet Transplantation, vol. Ill: Immunoisolation of Pancreatic Islets (Lanza, R. P. and Chick, W. L., eds.), R. G. Landes, Austin, TX, pp. 21–44.
King, G. A., Daugulis, A. J., Faulkner, P., and Goosen, M. F. A. (1987) Alginate polylysine microcapsules of controlled membrane molecular weight cut-off for mammalian cell culture engineering. Biotechnol. Prog. 3, 231–240.
Okhamafe, A. and Goosen, M. F. A. (1993) Control of capsule membrane permeability, in Fundamentals of Animal Cell Encapsulation and Immobilization (Goosen, M. F. A., ed.), CRC, Boca Raton, FL, pp. 64–74.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1997 Humana Press Inc , Totowa, NJ
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Goosen, M.F.A., Mahmud, E.S.E., Al-Ghafri, A.S., Al-Hajri, H.A., Al-Sinani, Y.S., Bugarski, B. (1997). Immobilization of Cells Using Electrostatic Droplet Generation. In: Bickerstaff, G.F. (eds) Immobilization of Enzymes and Cells. Methods in Biotechnology, vol 1. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1385/0-89603-386-4:167
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/0-89603-386-4:167
Publisher Name: Humana Press
Print ISBN: 978-0-89603-386-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-481-8
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols