A MULTICHANNEL UNIVERSAL BIOPOLYMER PURIFICATION SYSTEM

FLOW FIELD-FLOW FRACTIONATION HAS RECENTLY BEEN DEMONSTRATED AS A HIGH SPEED ANALYTICAL TOOL FOR SEPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF BIOPOLYMERS AND CELL PARTICLES IN THE SIZE RANGE OF 0.001 TO 50 MICRONS. WE WILL EXTEND AND COMMERCIALIZE THIS TECHNOLOGY FOR PREPARATIVE SCALE APPLICATIONS. THE USE OF AN ARRAY OF CHANNELS IN A FLOW FFF SYSTEM OFFERS POTENTIAL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A RAPID UNIVERSAL BIOPOLYMER PURIFICATION SYSTEM FOR PREPARATIVE SCALE FRACTIONATION OF BIOPOLYMERS OF WIDE MOLECULAR WEIGHT/SIZE DISTRIBUTION. SPECIFICALLY, THE MULTI-CHANNEL DESIGN INVOLVES THE USE OF MEMBRANES WITH DECREASING PORE SIZES IN A STACKED ASSEMBLY. THE PHASE I EFFORT FOCUSES ON MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGY AND TEH FEASIBILITY OF COMMERCIALIZATION OF THIS MULTICHANNEL UNIVERSAL BIOPOLYMER PURIFICATION SYSTEM.