title: Enhancement of membrane stability on magnetic responsive hydrogel microcapsules for potential on-demand cell separation.
abstract: It is of high interest to obtain hydrogel membranes with optimum mechanical stability, which is a prerequisite to the successful fabrication of hydrogel microcapsules for cell separation. In this work, we developed magnetic responsive alginate/chitosan (MAC) hydrogel microcapsules by co-encapsulation of microbial cells and superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) reacting under a high voltage electrostatic field. We investigated the influence of the molecular weight of chitosan, microcapsules size, and membrane crosslinking time on the swelling behavior of microcapsules as an indicator of stability of the membranes. The results demonstrated that the suitable membrane stability conditions were obtained by a crosslinking of the microspheres with a chitosan presenting a molecular weight of 70kDa for 15-30min resulting in a membrane thickness of approximately 30mm. Considering the need of maintaining the cells inside the microcapsules, fermentation at 37°C and at neutral pH was favorable. Moreover, the MAC microcapsules sizing between 300 and 380μm were suitable for immobilizing Bacillus licheniformis in a 286h multiple fed-bath operation with no leakage of the SPIONs and cells. Overall, the results of this study provided strategies for the rational design of magnetic microcapsules exhibiting suitable mechanical stable membranes.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, Northwest University, Xi'an, PR China. Electronic address: huiyunwen@nwu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Huiyun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, Northwest University, Xi'an, PR China. Electronic address: gaoting920920@163.com.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Changqing Petrochemical Branch Company, Xianyang, PR China. Electronic address: fuzz-cs@petrochina.com.cn.
authors.forename: Zizhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, Northwest University, Xi'an, PR China. Electronic address: liuxing@stumail.nwu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, Northwest University, Xi'an, PR China. Electronic address: xujiatong163@163.com.
authors.forename: Jiatong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, Northwest University, Xi'an, PR China. Electronic address: heyishu@stumail.nwu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yishu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, Northwest University, Xi'an, PR China; Medical college, Xi'an International University, Xi'an, PR China. Electronic address: xnxwrt@126.com.
authors.forename: Ningxia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, Northwest University, Xi'an, PR China. Electronic address: 15209230615@163.com.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, Northwest University, Xi'an, PR China. Electronic address: anfan_nwu@126.com.
authors.forename: An
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, Northwest University, Xi'an, PR China. Electronic address: huangsaipeng@nwu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Saipeng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, Northwest University, Xi'an, PR China. Electronic address: xue_wm@126.com.
authors.forename: Weiming
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xue
mesh_terms: D000464:Alginates; D000069976:Bacillus licheniformis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002469:Cell Separation; D048271:Chitosan; D020723:Glucuronic Acid; D006603:Hexuronic Acids; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D008280:Magnetics; D008863:Microspheres
chemical_list: D000464:Alginates; D006603:Hexuronic Acids; D020100:Hydrogels; D020723:Glucuronic Acid; D048271:Chitosan
keywords: Magnetic alginate/chitosan microcapsule; Magnetic cell separation; Membrane stability; Microencapsulation