Foam Control by Silicone Polyethers-Mechanisms of "Cloud Point Antifoaming"

The mechanism of antifoaming in a nonionic Triton X-100 surfactant solution with silicone polyethers (SILWET L-7210, L-7230, and L-7500), the so-called "cloud point antifoams," was investigated. The cloud point (CP) studies showed that the CP of a Triton X-100/silicone polyether mixed system is between the CP of the foaming and the antifoam surfactants, due to mixed micelle formation. It was found that the foam stability drops at a certain temperature-which we called the enhanced foam collapse temperature (EFCT)-which was a few degrees Celsius below the CP of the solutions. Single films were also formed from the same systems, and their stability and drainage were observed. Film thinning accelerated with temperature near the cloud point, but this cannot explain the lower foam stability. It was observed that while at low temperatures black film formed, above the EFCT the film ruptured just before black film formation could have begun; the rupture was probably caused by unstable black spots. It is suggested that at the EFCT (near the CP) the net interaction between the film surfaces becomes attraction due to the same reason that causes the CP: the hydrophilic parts (polyethylene oxide) of the nonionic surfactants lose their hydrate water and thus, the steric repulsion between the surfaces diminishes. The EFCT and the CP are not necessarily the same because the composition of the foam and micelle surfaces, respectively, can be different. The antifoaming action was also tested above the CP of the solution and it was observed that another antifoaming mechanism also acts there: the phase-separated surfactant drops get trapped in the thinning foam films and the trapped drops rupture the films by bridging. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.

Dynamic Film and Interfacial Tensions in Emulsion and Foam Systems

In concentrated fluid dispersions the liquid films are under dynamic conditions during film rupture or drainage. Aqueous foam films stabilized with sodium decylsulfonate and aqueous emulsion films stabilized with the nonionic Brij 58 surfactant were formed at the tip of a capillary and the film tension was measured under static and dynamic conditions. In the stress relaxation experiments the response of the film tension to a sudden film area expansion was studied. These experiments also allowed the direct measurement of the Gibbs film elasticity. In the dynamic film tension experiments, the film area was continuously increased by a constant rate and the dynamic film tension was monitored. The measured film tensions were compared with the interfacial tensions of the respective single air/water and oil/water interfaces, which were measured using the same radius of curvature, relative expansion, and expansion rate as in the film studies. It was found that under dynamic conditions the film tension is higher than twice the single interfacial tension (IFT) and a mechanism was suggested to explain the difference. When the film, initially at equilibrium, is expanded and the interfacial area increases, a substantial surfactant depletion occurs inside the film. As a result, the surfactant can be supplied only from the adjoining meniscus (Plateau border) by surface diffusion, and the film tension is controlled by the diffusion and adsorption of surfactant in the meniscus. The results have important implications for the stability and rheology of foams and emulsions with high dispersed phase ratios (polyhedral structure).

Analysis of cell-to-bubble attachment in sparged bioreactors in the presence of cell-protecting additives.

To investigate the mechanisms of cell protection provided by medium additives against animal cell injury in sparged bioreactors, we have analyzed the effect of various additives on the cell-to-bubble attachment process using CHO cells in suspension. Cell-to-bubble attachment was examined using three experimental techniques: (1) cell-bubble induction time analysis (cell-to-bubble attachment times); (2) forming thin liquid films and observing the movement and location of cells in the thin films; and (3) foam flotation experiments. The induction times we measured for the various additives are as follows: no additive (50 to 500 ms), polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP: 20 to 500 ms), polyethylene glycol (PEG: 200 to 1000 ms), 3% serum (500 to 1000 ms), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA: 2 to 10 s), Pluronic F68 (5 to 20 s), and Methocel (20 to 60 s). In the thin film formation experiments, cells in medium with either F68, PVA, or Methocel quickly flowed out of draining thin liquid films and entered the plateau border. When using media with no additive or with serum, the flow of cells out of the thin liquid film and film drainage were slower than for media containing Pluronic F68. PVA, or Methocel. With PVP and PEG, the thin film drainage was much slower and cells remained trapped in the film. For the foam flotation experiments, a separation factor (ratio of cell concentration in the foam catch to that in the bubble column) was determined for the various additives. In the order of increasing separation factors (i.e., increasing cell attachment to bubbles), the additives are as follows: Methocel, PVA, Pluronic F68, 3% serum, serum-free medium with no additives, PEG, and PVP. Based on the results of these three different cell-to-bubble attachment experiments, we have classified the cell-protecting additives into three groups: (1) Pluronic F68, PVA, and Methocel (reduced cell-to-bubble attachment); (2) PEG and PVP (high or increased cell-to-bubble attachment); and (3) FBS (reduced cell attachment butslower drainage films compared with F68, PVA, and Methocel with some cell entrapment in those films). These phenomena are discussed in relation to the interfacial properties of the media reported in a companion Study (this issue). (c) 1995 John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Interfacial properties of cell culture media with cell-protecting additives.

In an effort to identify key rheological properties that contribute to cell protection against shear damage, we have measured surface shear and dilatationai viscosities, dynamic surface tension, foaminess, and foam stability for media containing cell-protecting additives. In a companion article,(18) we found that cell-to-bubble attachment was decreased in media containing Methocel, Pluronic F68, or polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). In medium containing polyethylene glycol (PEG) or potyvinyl-pyrrolidone (PVP), attachment was increased. PEG, PVP, serum (FBS), and serum albumin (BSA) increased the surface viscosity of the air/medium surface (thus, producing a more rigid interface), whereas F68 and PVA lowered it greatly. Foaming experiments showed that Methocel, PEG, PVA, and F68 decreased the foam half-life while FBS, BSA, and PVP were foam stabilizers. Interestingly, the foam stability of CHO cell suspensions decreased significantly for cell concentrations higher than ca. 2 x 10(6) cells/mL. Nonviable CHO cells reduced foam stability further. Dynamic surface tension values of the media tested were found significantly differentfrom their static surface tension values. The interfacial properties measured and the results presented in the companion study suggest that the additives that lower dynamic surface tension the most (Methocel, F68, and PVA) correlate well with reduced cell-to-bubble attachment, and thus, cell protection. Reduced dynamic surface tension with these additives implies faster surfactant adsorption, mobile interfaces, lower surface viscosity, and foam destabilization. Because PEG and PVP resulted in increased cell-to-bubble attachment and had different interfacial properties, a different mechanism (compared with Methocel, PVP, and F68) is apparently responsible for their protective effect. Finally, cell protection offered by FBS and BSA is attributed to the foam stabilization properties provided by these additives. (c) 1995 John Wiley & Sons Inc.