i3 Membrane is your companion for filtration solutions and separation technologies within the Life Sciences. Together with and for our clients, we co-develop and innovate high-quality products for the Medical, Lab/Pharma and Biotech segments of Life Science.
Medical
Point-of-Care filtration for bacterial retention
Newborns and patients with weak or suppressed immune systems are particularly susceptible to nosocomial infections. Point-of-Care water filtration is well-known to be an important part of an effective prevention strategy. The more compact and efficient the Point-of-Care water filter, the less it interferes with central working procedures – and the better you can integrate it in your everyday clinical work.
Our solutions show that high-tech can be small, compact and high performing. For use in clinics and medical facilities, we have developed a compact and high performance, sterilizing grade water filter. It creates a reliable barrier against waterborne pathogens.
Lab/Pharma
Particle analysis
Contamination of solid materials, as well as of liquid and gaseous media, is forcing laboratory professionals to face ever more difficult challenges. For example, a basic requirement in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and chemical agents, for example, is that the product be free of nanoparticles and microstructures. This makes constant monitoring essential.
i3 Membrane provides devices used for the highest standards of particle analysis. Ultra-thin metal finishes made of gold, titanium and other precious metals are applied to high-quality polymeric membranes to enable optimal reflection properties with the Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) microscope and the Raman spectroscope. They also build a suitable conductive substrate for imaging with scanning electron microscopes (EDX/WDX). This makes the standardized membranes ideal for use in asbestos analysis, particle analysis of solid and liquid materials in the pharmaceuticals, chemical and automotive industries, as well as in microplastics analysis and sample preparation (for HPLC and other methods).
For customized fields of application, we produce specially coated track-etched filters made of various polymer compounds of different pore sizes, diameters and coating thicknesses. To stabilize the membranes when in use, the gold-coated filters are manufactured with an aluminum ring.
Biotech
Digital membrane chromatography
Cell and gene therapy, new vaccines and the production of monoclonal antibodies are the most dynamic areas in the biopharmaceutical industry. Their use in research and development, in diagnostics and therapeutic treatments has required complex, multi-stage purification processes to date, using separation columns that are costly and slow.
Chromatographic membranes have increasingly gained ground as an alternative to separation columns. This is because they achieve higher flow rates and an effective transfer of mass. Biomolecules, which are adsorbed through their positively or negatively charged binding sites, can however only be recovered by means of larger changes in pH values or through high salt concentrations in the rinsing fluid, which may compromise delicate biomulecules or be difficult to control in order to maximize yield and prevent 'bleed' or mixing of the product of importance with other substances.
Analytical systems such as HPLC also benefit from separation techniques that provide instruments with purified samples.
The cleaner, faster, cost reducing alternative: digital membrane chromatography. By applying a thin gold layer on both sides of a membrane, and when connected to an electricity source, the chemical binding capacities of the stationary phase can be switched. Both adsorption and desorption occur through simple potential regulation. The process can be repeated as often as is necessary. This makes the massive use of buffer solutions or increases in salt concentration for antibody purification, as well as an increase in the concentration of endotoxins, obsolete. Membrane chromatography goes digital.