Ceramic dendritic fibrous nanosilica (DFNS) structures for continuous lytic bioprocesses

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Sascha Beutel; Privatdozent Dr. Michael Maas
• Subject Area: Biological Process Engineering ; Biological and Biomimetic Chemistry
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 521505483

The aim of this project is to develop a modular continuous flow module with dendritic fibrous nanosilica (DFNS) particles for effective cell lysis. Cell lysis is the key process step in bioprocessing for cell inactivation or extracting intracellular products. Factors such as product recovery, downstream process challenges, and product quality are critically influenced by the type of cell disruption. Current standards are usually very cost-intensive, time-consuming and cannot be applied continuously. In preliminary work for this project, DFNS nanoparticles were already successfully produced and ceramic surfaces were coated with DFNS structures. Using these particles, a clear mechanical lysis effect of the DFNS structures could already be demonstrated in static and dynamic preliminary tests. A prototype of a dynamic lysis system achieved complete cell lysis after five passages. That highlights the great potential of this project to develop a cost-effective, efficient, modularly applicable and continuously operable lysis module. In this project, the expertise in the field of advanced ceramics (Advanced Ceramics Bremen) and bioprocess engineering (Institute of Technical Chemistry) will be used to successfully collaborate in an interdisciplinary manner. In addition to the fabrication and optimization of the delicate DFNS structures for the mechanical lysis of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, the unique fibrous morphology of DFNS will be used to achieve a synergistic lysis effect by means of enzyme immobilization. Since the DFNS structures are easily modifiable, this project offers further long-term opportunities in addition to optimized cell lysis. Hydrophobic functionalizations and oxygen-deficient surface modifications could be used to achieve catalytic or photocatalytic properties.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr.-Ing. Kurosch Rezwan