Open AccessSurface tension determination by means of liquid handling stations
Author(s) -
Amrhein Sven,
Suhm Susanna,
Hubbuch Jürgen
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
engineering in life sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.547
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1618-2863
pISSN - 1618-0240
DOI - 10.1002/elsc.201500179
Subject(s) - surface tension , process engineering , throughput , drop (telecommunication) , gravimetric analysis , sample (material) , power consumption , materials science , computer science , nanotechnology , chromatography , mechanical engineering , chemistry , power (physics) , engineering , thermodynamics , physics , telecommunications , organic chemistry , wireless
The characterization of liquid surfaces with respect to surface tension is of major interest throughout a number of disciplines. In life science technologies and in pharmaceutical production in particular, the surface tension and drop size of liquids are predominating parameters throughout the production process, starting from foaming during fermentation processes, formulation by spray drying, or the drug application by aerosol inhalators. The profiling of surface tension can be further applied for physicochemical drug assessment with predictive power for the compound's pharmacology. In the present study, a high‐throughput approach for the determination of surface tension integrated into a fully automated liquid handling station was developed. The method is based on the accurate gravimetric determination of masses of drops generated at a liquid handler tip using a high‐precision balance. By means of repetitive sample‐conserving drop‐generating procedures, huge numbers of drops and thus statistical significance can be created from a minimal sample volume of a few 100 μL. The developed approach excels in instrumental simplicity, accuracy, precision, and minimal sample consumption. The fully automated setup was validated for a broad range of surface tensions starting from about 25 to 75 mN/m. Eight‐fold determinations of sample liquids exposed standard deviations of less than 0.5%, which demonstrates excellent precision. Further potential revisions of the stalagmometric approach for the determination of interfacial tension between two liquids are described in detail. The employment of liquid handling stations enables the integration of the developed method into the high‐throughput screening paradigm and thus adds high value to the laboratory work flow.