Providing a water slurry containing an immobilizing agent and an insoluble substance, such as calcium citrate, effective to cause gelation of the immobilizing agent. The water slurry is then contacted with a hydrophobic liquid, such as a vegetable oil under conditions leading to the formation of a dispersion of droplets of the water slurry in the hydrophobic liquid. The droplets gel to form microspheres by adding an oil-soluble organic acid, such as acetic acid to the dispersion containing the droplets. Possibility of producing microspheres which are very small and are constituted of nearly perfect spheres. If desired the method can be adapted to produce microspheres containing immobilized material.

Method of producing microspheres

A method is proposed of obtaining a chemical interaction between at least one reagent trapped in sol-gel glass by doping it with the reagent, and diffusible solutes or components in an adjacent liquid or gas phase. The reagents, the solutes or the components can be any organic or inorganic compounds or materials of biological origin including enzymes. The doped sol-gel glass in various forms may be useful as analytical test, chromatographic medium, sensor, catalyst or biocatalyst, electrode or enzyme electrode, or other detection device.

Doped sol-gel glasses for obtaining chemical interactions

Although the application of the natural attraction of many microorganisms to surfaces has been applied in vinegar production since the early 1980s, and has long been utilized in waste water purification, the development of microbial cell immobilization techniques for special applications dates back only to the early 1960s. The immobilization may involve whole cells, cell fragments, or lysed cells. Whole cells may retain their metabolic activity with their complex multienzyme systems and cofactor regeneration mechanisms intact, or they may be killed in the process with only a few desired enzymes remaining active in the final biocatalyst. Cells may also be coimmobilized with an enzyme to carry out special reactions. Although relatively few industrial scale applications exist today, some are of very large scale. Current applications vary from relatively small scale steroid conversions to amino acid production and high fructose syrup manufacture. A vast number of potential applications are already known, and one of the most interesting applications may be in continuous fermentation such as ethanol production by immobilized living microorganisms. 373 references.

Industrial Applications of Immobilized Cells

Centrifugal fermentation process

Biologically active material is immobilized by forming a gel precursor containing the biologically active material, a polymerizable material and a viscosity enhancing agent, applying the gel precursor to a support material and gelling the gel precursor by polymerization to form a hydrogel containing the biologically active material on the support material. A least some of the hydrogel is enmeshed with the support material. By use of the viscosity enhancing agent, the gel precursor is provided with preferred rheological properties.

Immobilization of biologically active material in a hydrogel on a support

Immobilization of microorganisms is carried out by mixing a water soluble-polymer selected from polyvinylalcohol, gelatin and carboxymethylcellulose with a tetraalkoxysilane, hydrolyzing the resulting mixture by the addition of acid to form a homogeneous complex sol, dispersing microbial cells homogeneously in the sol and gelling the mixture of the sol and microbial cells.

Immobilization of microorganisms in a hydrophilic complex gel

Procede de preparation d'un gel complexe hydrophile

PURPOSE:To form a polymerized tough thin film having functionality on a substrate surface, by vaporizing a low-volatile or low-sublimable substance and by forming a polymerized thin film on th substrate simultaneously in the same plasma atomosphere CONSTITUTION:A substrate eg a high polymer film, metal piece, or glass, is placed in a plasma reaction vessel together with a low-volatile or low-sublimable substance for forming a polymerized film The vessel is then evacuated by a vacuum pump, and the discharge is effected under a given pressure of 001-5 Torr and a given output of 5-400 W to give a plasma atmosphere with or without introduction of an atmospheric gas Although the film is scarcely changed only by the vacuum, the plasma vaporizes the substance rapidly to form a polymerized thin film on the surfaces of the substrate and vessel

Hino Tsunetoshi

Papers

Immobilization of microorganisms in a hydrophilic complex gel

Procede de preparation d'un gel complexe hydrophile

Formation of thin film

Verfahren zur herstellung eines hydrophilen komplexen gels zur immobilisierung mikrobieller zellen