Characterization of internal structure of hydrated agar and gelatin matrices by cryo-SEM
Type
ArticleKAUST Department
Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Research CenterAdvanced Nanofabrication, Imaging and Characterization Core Lab
Chemical Science Program
Core Labs
Imaging and Characterization Core Lab
Numerical Porous Media SRI Center (NumPor)
Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) Division
Smart Hybrid Materials (SHMs) lab
Date
2012-12-26Online Publication Date
2012-12-26Print Publication Date
2013-02Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/562467
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
There has been a considerable interest in recent years in developing polymer gel matrices for many important applications such as 2DE for quantization and separation of a variety of proteins and drug delivery system to control the release of active agents. However, a well-defined knowledge of the ultrastructures of the gels has been elusive. In this study, we report the characterization of two different polymers used in 2DE: Gelatin, a naturally occurring polymer derived from collagen (protein) and agar, a polymer of polysaccharide (sugar) origin. Low-temperature SEM is used to examine the internal structure of these gels in their frozen natural hydrated states. Results of this study show that both polymers have an array of hollow cells that resembles honeycomb structures. While agar pores are almost circular, the corresponding Gaussian curve is very broad exhibiting a range of radii from nearly 370 to 700 nm. Gelatin pores are smaller and more homogeneous reflecting a narrower distribution from nearly 320 to 650 nm. Overall, these ultrastructural findings could be used to correlate with functions of the polymers. © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.Citation
Rahbani, J., Behzad, A. R., Khashab, N. M., & Al-Ghoul, M. (2012). Characterization of internal structure of hydrated agar and gelatin matrices by cryo-SEM. ELECTROPHORESIS, 34(3), 405–408. doi:10.1002/elps.201200434Sponsors
The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding provided by the American University of Beirut Research Board and by the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research (LCNSR).Publisher
WileyJournal
ELECTROPHORESISPubMed ID
23161518ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1002/elps.201200434
Scopus Count
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