Homogenizers and Immersion Blenders
Homogenizers can be used with tissue, plant, food, soil, and other sample types. Homogenization is a common sample preparation step for analyzing nucleic acids, proteins, cells, metabolism, pathogens, and other targets.
Cell fractionation releases the contents of cells, and newer methods have been designed to consider quality and environmental aspects, cross-contamination, aerosol generations, infection risk, and noise levels. Different methods have been developed for disrupting cell walls and other structures. These include bead mills, sonication, rotor-stator mechanical, high pressure, and other physical methods.
For biological work, sonication may adequately disrupt or deactivate biological material via the process of sonoporation. Sonic dismembrators can break up cells and fragment DNA molecules by subjecting the sample to ultrasonic waves that create small fragments.
Some substances can be mechanically homogenized using beads and other small pieces of metal or minerals. The sample is added to a vial that contains these small particles; the tubes are then rapidly agitated, which breaks down the materials. Depending on the equipment, many samples can be processed simultaneously with this method.
Another mechanical homogenization method is the rotor-stator; these devices have a fast-spinning inner rotor and a stationary outer sheath (stator). Samples are subjected to tearing, shear fluid forces, and cavitation (bubble formation and collapse). A rotor-stator processes a single sample at a time; high-throughput and continuous use models are available.
An immersion blender has an electric motor that powers rotating blades at the end of a shaft. The device is lowered into the sample or mixture and the motor activated. The device may be hand-held or clamped to a stand.
Homogenizer packages are also available for the motorized methods.