Wide Range Of Uses For Ultrasonic Homogenizers

Ultrasonic homogenization technology is mainly used for the preparation and production of laboratory samples, including the homogenization, emulsification, and suspension of various substances, as well as the acceleration of chemical reactions, cell disruption, and extraction of cell contents. The use of ultrasonic homogenization equipment can selectively disrupt certain substances, streamline tedious liquid preparation processes, and increase the yields of many reactions.

Compared to mechanical processing equipment such as planetary ball mills, rotors, or gap homogenizers, ultrasonic homogenizers can work with higher efficiency, especially enabling experimental results that require a large number of repeated cycles. The use of ultrasonic homogenizers has become critical, where even the smallest sample volumes can be processed quickly, cost-effectively, and reproducibly.

destroy cells and microbes

In modern laboratories, ultrasonic homogenizers are used to disrupt cell walls to extract cellular contents without damaging them. The purpose of cell disintegration or lysis is to destroy part of the cell wall or the entire cell to release biomolecules. So-called lysates may include, for example, plasmids, receptor assays, proteins, DNA, RNA, and the like. The steps of lysis are separation, organelle isolation, and protein extraction and purification. The extracted material (lysate) must be isolated and required for further research or application, such as for proteomic studies. An ultrasonic homogenizer is a common tool for successful cell lysis.

The destruction of cell membranes is largely dependent on the elasticity of cells. Partial destruction of cellular components such as mitochondria or cytoplasm can be achieved by varying the input ultrasonic energy and extraction power. For particularly resistant bacteria (e.g. streptococci), fungi, spores, yeast, or tissue samples, direct destruction with very high ultrasonic amplitudes is possible with the microchips, as the microchips can achieve very high energies in the smallest sample volume enter.

Applications in Biochemistry and Medicine

disrupt tissue culture

Subcellular components and viruses are destroyed without any damage.

Paternity Testing

Urology

Biochemical Membrane Analysis of Sperm Composition

genetic research

DNA extraction from human material.

Liposome preparation

Smallpox vaccine treatment

Prepare an evenly distributed infection solution

Ultrasonic dispersion

Using ultrasonic energy, solid particles or even liquids can be dispersed into another carrier. Nanoscale powders such as titanium dioxide or fumed silica are increasingly used in the production of test coatings and varnishes or for polishing small body surfaces due to their large specific surface area and increased reactivity potential.

Furthermore, these substances have a negative tendency to agglomerate, the result of which is poor flow and wettability. The formed agglomerates are disrupted by means of an ultrasonic homogenizer and the dispersion is permanently stabilized against re-agglomeration.

Ultrasonic emulsification

When phacoemulsification is used, two immiscible liquids, such as oil and water, are processed into a quasi-homogeneous emulsion. Finely dispersed emulsions with very small droplet sizes and very high stability can be produced by means of ultrasonic homogenization techniques compared to conventional methods using eg rotors. The resulting emulsion neither formed lumps nor settled droplets. With conventional methods, such as rotors or stirrers, slow stirring usually results in liquid separation. Too fast stirring will result in the inclusion of air, dust, and other debris in the emulsion. Ultrasonic homogenizers are often used in pharmacies for high-quality, small-scale ointment production.

Ultrasonic homogenization

Ultrasonic homogenized emulsions are encountered in many different forms in daily life, for example in cosmetics or lotions. Technical applications of ultrasonic homogenization range from the production of paints and varnishes to the homogenization of wastewater and soil samples (for analytical purposes) to sample preparation for particle size analysis.

In particular, industrial wastewater is continuously checked for the presence of heavy metals, fats, or oils in environmental laboratories so that immediate measures can be taken if concentrations exceed the limit. In order to obtain representative analytical results, it is necessary to convert the wastewater sample to a homogeneous state. These need to be achieved by ultrasonic homogenization with high reliability in a short time.

In agriculture, ultrasonic homogenizers are used for sample preparation. For example, the ultrasonic homogenizer can intensively and finely homogenize the cells of rosettes in a very short time. The final achievable particle size is less than 1 μm, which simplifies the subsequent filtration to wash out the ions as no agglomerates are formed.