Understand the Characteristics of Sterilized Syringe Filter

Syringe filter overview

Syringe filter is mainly used for filtration of mobile phase and sample in chromatographic analysis. It features excellent temperature resistance and chemical resistance, like the organic solvent and strong acid, alkali and oxidant resistance, great air permeability and water permeability, high particle retention rate, large air flux, which is non-stick, non-flammable and non-toxic, and biocompatibility. Due to the low cost with small volume, large filtering area, fast filtering speed, low blocking rate, acid and alkali corrosion resistance, and long service life, the syringe filter is widely used in many different industries.

Sterilized syringe filters

For the syringe filter, it can be classified into different types. For instance, there are PVDF, MCE, Nylon and PP syringe filters, based on the filter membranes. Also, there are non sterilized and sterilized syringe filters. Today, HAWACH will discuss the features, applications and use notes of sterilized syringe filters.

Firstly, we would like to introduce the characteristics of sterilized syringe filters.
1. With both high quality and economy, it is an ideal choice for fast and efficient filtration of samples with a volume of up to 5,000ml. The diameters are ranging from 4mm to 50mm.
2. Specially designed for filtering environmental samples before COD and DOC analysis. To reduce the organic carbon content, the membranes used in these devices are pre-cleaned prior to assembly.
3. Sterilized syringe filters remove solids from liquid samples prior to analytical methods such as HPLC and UV/Vis spectrophotometry.
4. Specially designed for resistance to organic solvents, ideal for clarifying aggressive organic solvents.
5. Reproducible filtration of organic solutions and aqueous solutions, suitable for sample preparation for high performance and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (HCLP and UHPLC).
6. Specially designed for automatic filtration system. It is equipped with a polypropylene casing to ensure smooth transport from the storage carousel to the filter location.
7. It adopts polypropylene shell and is equipped with a layer of inorganic alumina filter membrane, which is specially designed for sample preparation for subsequent ion chromatography and HPLC analysis. These units ensure very low levels of anion leaching when performing ion chromatography tests.
8. High-viscosity filter with pre-filter for filtration of viscous, high-density or other difficult-to-filter materials with high solids content (such as in environmental and food analysis samples).

Secondly, we would like to introduce the main applications of sterilized syringe filters. HAWACH has summarized the following eight main uses for sterilized syringe filters. Sterilization syringe filters are mainly used for pre-clarification of samples, particle removal, sterilization filtration of liquids and gases, etc, which are fast, convenient and reliable for routine use in laboratories, as it does not need to change the membrane and clean the filter, which saves the complicated and time-consuming preparation work, and is widely used in the laboratory. Also, it can be used in the analysis of ambient air, waste gas and water quality; used in microelectronic semiconductor, chemical industry, cement/mineral analysis, etc; applied in the testing and analysis of raw materials, finished products and semi-finished products of food, beverages and medicines; filtration of aqueous and organic solutions in educational and commercial R&D laboratories and teaching, quality inspection, quality control; sample preparation for chromatography and mass spectrometry.

Thirdly, the use notes of sterilized syringe filters will be discussed. No matter the sterilized syringe filters is used for gas or liquid, it should be tested for integrity according to the sterile filter integrity test procedures before and after use. After the integrity test, the membranes and filters used for aseptic production need to be sterilized. At the end of the integrity test, the membranes and filters used for aseptic production need to be sterilized. There are two sterilization methods available: ethylene oxide gas and steam sterilization. The general method is steam sterilization.For on-line steam sterilization of sterilization filters, the pressure difference before and after the filter should be monitored during sterilization. The general sterilizing filter should be kept in an upright state and avoid slanting or lying down. Take record the sterilization time, pressure and temperature during sterilization. The use of a sterile filter can not exceed 1 working day. Different products cannot be filtered at the same time, but can be used to filter multiple batches of the same product, but integrity experiments must be performed.

If you find that the filtration speed suddenly becomes faster or too slow during use, it means that the membrane has been damaged. You should replace it with a new membrane in time and perform the experiment again. If you have any problem during use, contact HAWACH team without hesitation.