Cryoprotectants for PVA Hydrogels
Additional Funding Sources
This project was supported by the Center of Excellence in Biomedical Research through the Institutional Development Award (IDeA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Grant Nos. P20GM109095; NSF CBET 1805358; and an OUR UOI Summer 2022 Undergraduate Research Fellowship.
Presentation Date
7-2022
Abstract
Bioremediation is an important process that treats pollutants using biological systems, and for this project, microorganisms. The microorganisms, a commercially purchased microbial consortia, are capable of metabolically eliminating the contaminates, specifically chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAHs). The microbes, if added directly into these contamination sites will die due to the high concentrations, therefore a polymer hydrogel encapsulation process is utilized. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogels are known hydrogel polymeric systems for microbial encapsulation yet these systems are not optimized. Recent advances in our group have shown that a freeze/thaw gelation method is advantageous for optimal diffusion of CAHs in and byproducts out. The focus of this project is to add cryoprotectants to the gel formula to both keep the diffusion rates optimal and yet keep the microorganisms alive within the gels so they can do their job. A series of mixtures of PVA and cryoprotectants will be explored using trehalose, sucrose, dextran, glycine betaine, and glycerol as various cryoprotectants. The gels will be tested for both physical and chemical properties to make sure that their role plays little attention to the diffusion rates but helps sustain the cells to live. The desired outcome of this research is to find a cryoprotectant chemical that is compatible with PVA and will work well to keep the microorganisms that live within the gel alive.
Cryoprotectants for PVA Hydrogels
Bioremediation is an important process that treats pollutants using biological systems, and for this project, microorganisms. The microorganisms, a commercially purchased microbial consortia, are capable of metabolically eliminating the contaminates, specifically chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAHs). The microbes, if added directly into these contamination sites will die due to the high concentrations, therefore a polymer hydrogel encapsulation process is utilized. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogels are known hydrogel polymeric systems for microbial encapsulation yet these systems are not optimized. Recent advances in our group have shown that a freeze/thaw gelation method is advantageous for optimal diffusion of CAHs in and byproducts out. The focus of this project is to add cryoprotectants to the gel formula to both keep the diffusion rates optimal and yet keep the microorganisms alive within the gels so they can do their job. A series of mixtures of PVA and cryoprotectants will be explored using trehalose, sucrose, dextran, glycine betaine, and glycerol as various cryoprotectants. The gels will be tested for both physical and chemical properties to make sure that their role plays little attention to the diffusion rates but helps sustain the cells to live. The desired outcome of this research is to find a cryoprotectant chemical that is compatible with PVA and will work well to keep the microorganisms that live within the gel alive.