Klisch Stefanie, Gilbert Dylan, Breaux Emma, Dalier Aliyah, Gupta Sudipta, Jakobi Bruno, Schneider Gerald J
Department of Chemistry, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, United States.
Department of Chemistry and Physics Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, Louisiana 70402, United States.
J Chem Educ. 2024 Aug 1;101(8):3292-3300. doi: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00287. eCollection 2024 Aug 13.
This work presents an automatic extruder as a research experience for undergraduate students. The system offers a user-friendly approach to preparing vesicles, such as liposomes or polymersomes, with a defined size and polydispersity-properties crucial for research in biology and macromolecules. It comprises two syringe pumps connected by a membrane filter. The setup is controlled by software. Compared to manual extrusion, this automated system provides advantages, such as precisely controlled variables. The project describes a tool to enhance undergraduate learning in science and engineering laboratories. Building an automatic extruder serves as a simplified model of a complex industrial process. It offers a clear advantage: automating a well-understood manual extrusion process. To make this project accessible, it is broken down into three manageable tasks: software development, hardware assembly, and testing procedures. This breakdown describes the software created, the hardware components used, and the testing procedures conducted for this project. All project data, including software code, testing data, and procedures, are freely available online. This allows undergraduate students to not only begin their own projects but also contribute to this educational instrument's ongoing development.
这项工作展示了一种自动挤出机,作为本科生的一项研究体验。该系统提供了一种用户友好的方法来制备具有特定尺寸和多分散性的囊泡,如脂质体或聚合物囊泡,这些特性对于生物学和大分子研究至关重要。它由通过膜过滤器连接的两个注射泵组成。该装置由软件控制。与手动挤出相比,这个自动化系统具有一些优势,比如变量控制精确。该项目描述了一种在科学和工程实验室中增强本科生学习的工具。构建自动挤出机可作为复杂工业过程的简化模型。它具有明显的优势:将一个已被充分理解的手动挤出过程自动化。为了使这个项目易于操作,它被分解为三个可管理的任务:软件开发、硬件组装和测试程序。这种分解描述了为该项目创建的软件、使用的硬件组件以及进行的测试程序。所有项目数据,包括软件代码、测试数据和程序,都可在网上免费获取。这使得本科生不仅能够开始他们自己的项目,还能为这个教育工具的持续发展做出贡献。