Gelling together

Hi, my name’s Malcolm Connah. As Product Marketing Manager for Malvern’s Nanometrics products, I get to talk and write about the company’s Zetasizer family of particle characterization systems and the Viscotek range of gel permeation chromatography/size exclusion chromatography systems. Which sounds like a bit of a mouthful  when you put it all in one sentence.

Useful materials contacts

I recently came across a very interesting story on MaterialsViews.com, a news portal run by John Wiley & Sons and dedicated to materials science. The site is edited by two of the most prolific and useful tweeters I have come across in this area: @materialsdave and @materialspeter.

Supporting tissue regeneration

The actual article, Materials in Medicine: A Jelly Scaffold for Tissue Regrowth, discusses an investigation of the self-assembly of oppositely charged gelatin nanoparticles to create a support structure for tissue regeneration. The resulting gel may overcome current issues, such as increased cytotoxicity, often caused by other biopolymers used in this way.

The original paper, upon which this story is based, was written by Dr Sander Leeuwenburgh and colleagues and published in the new healthcare section of the 25 March edition of Advanced Materials.

The strength of jelly

‘Oppositely Charged Gelatin Nanospheres as Building Blocks for Injectable and Biodegradable Gels’, describes the application of Laser Doppler electrophoresis with a Zetasizer Nano to confirm that attractive electrostatic forces between two types of gelatin, with naturally opposite charge, cause aggregation and leads to the formation of a colloidal gel.

A mixture of peptides and proteins derived from the collagen inside animal skin and bones, gelatin is non-toxic, biocompatible and biodegradable. In addition to these advantages, the assembled gel shows enhanced elasticity, stability at high ionic strength, and is suitable for injection.

Until next time…

There is nothing I enjoy more (apart from a  game of golf)  than discussing new applications. If you are inspired to comment on this, or any other application of Malvern products, please share your thoughts below on the blog or feel free to contact us direct.