BioVyon™ Materials

BioVyon^TM is a range of sintered porous polymer materials used for filtration, separation, purification, diffusion and fluid transfer. Specially designed for the bioscience or life science markets using novel technologies, applications are found within the medical, pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.

Available for OEM customers, Porvair Filtration Group product, application and engineering specialists will work with our customers to develop products to meet their requirements, using our class 100000 clean rooms for product assembly and employing cGMP processes. Contract manufacture, and design and build of finished products is also available.

BioVyon^TM standard materials are primarily polyethylene or polypropylene sintered porous plastic materials made by cGMP processes with low extractable and particle shedding levels. Available in pore sizes from 5 to 100 micron (mean flow pore) the materials are available in sheet, roll, cut shapes or moulded and depending on the material specification, the materials have regulatory approvals for FDA, WDA and USP requirements.

Application examples include:

Filters for Medical, Pharmaceutical and over the counter Healthcare products
Porvair has a vast experience of supplying products for the healthcare market. We provide optimum solutions for individual customer requirements with the combination of excellent project and product development management, together with an understanding of market requirements and regulations (USP and FDA). Porvair is your partner for OEM products.
BioVyon™ materials are used in a wide variety of applications including Filters and Valves. Filters are used for both liquid and gases, in applications such as bottle sterilising vents, air filtration for aspirating drugs, medicinal liquids and bone adhesives. Water or fluid shut off BioVyon^TM materials are used in inline gas applications, catheter vents and urine bag vents.

Filters and wicks for diagnostic applications
Diagnostic devices often need a preparation step prior to analysis, this step is important to standardise the sample and remove unwanted contamination that can interfere with the result. The filtration or separation at the sample preparation stage is often very specific to the application. We are also developing new BioVyon^TM wicking materials for diagnostic applications, consistent fluid transfer is critical for these applications.

Process chromotography supports
BioVyon^TM sintered porous plastic materials and Sinterflo^® sintered stainless steel mesh materials are the industry standard for process chromatography support applications. Manufactured to a high quality standard, these products are available in either sintered porous polyethylene BioVyon^TM standard material and BioVyon^TM Hydrophilic, or Sinterflo^® M sintered 316L stainless steel mesh. We custom manufacture supports for small columns to those over 1 metre in diameter, according to individual customer specifications and requirements. All our materials have USP Class 6 regulatory approval and offer high strength for total media support, uniform pore size distribution and permeability for efficient processing, low extraction levels and high levels of cleanliness.

Porous Frit support materials for Chromatography sample preparation or solid phase extraction devices (SPE)
The importance of the frits used to support the resins in Solid Phase Extraction devices, cannot be underestimated. Not only acting as a support for the resin, the frits play a critical role in controlling the flow through the devices. The flow needs to be consistent and uniform to ensure that the reaction with the resins is consistent from device to device. The need for uniformity of porosity and pore size is a prerequisite. The frits also need to be to be mechanically strong and with smooth and sharp edges to aide manufacture and ensure a good seal and reduce particle shedding. Our BioVyon^TM materials are at the forefront of frit developments and we can effectively custom design the frit to your resin and manufacturing requirements.

Driven by the need for cleaner frits for SPE applications requiring very low extractables, Porvair has introduced BioVyon^TM Ultraclean materials which are setting the new market standards.

BioVyon^TM Ultraclean
These are the BioVyon™ standard materials made with ultra low extractables. They have primarily been developed for chromatography sample preparation, solid phase extraction products where is a requirement for low leaching products that will not interfere with the analysis.

BioVyon^TM Oleophobic
The naturally hydrophobic BioVyon™ standard materials can be treated to enhance its water and oil repellence throughout the internal pore structure and external surfaces of the material. This permanent treatment, that alters the surface chemistry and reduces the surface energy of the porous polymer, increases the liquid repellence of the material. Applications for this technology include protein precipitation for chemical analysis sample preparation, venting for catheters, pipette tips and tank vents, and sample recovery by precipitation.

BioVyon^TM Hydrophilic
The naturally hydrophobic BioVyon^TM standard, which can prevent aqueous liquids wetting out the pore structure, can be a disadvantage for some applications in filtration and wicking. With BioVyon^TM Hydrophilic the surface and the internal structure of the material has been treated to make it hydrophilic, this permanent treatment effectively increases the surface energy to make it water wettable. Applications for this product includes hydrophilic resin support frits for Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) sample preparation products, diagnostic wicking materials and controlled release and process chromatography permanently wettable bed supports.

BioVyon^TM Composites
BioVyon^TM composites can be thought of as powdered active ingredients or resins immobilised within a rigid porous polymer matrix. The chemical and surface properties can be wide and varied depending on the immobilised materials. BioVyon^TM composites can offer real benefits improving the effectiveness of the active ingredients. Applications are typically where porous materials are used as supports for active resins including chromatography sample preparation products, solid phase extraction, diagnostics sample preparation, catalysis immobilisation, general chemical adsorption and conductive polymers.

BioVyon^TM Laminates
Membranes with pore sizes typically below 1 micron are used extensively in filtration, separation and wicking applications. Due to the small pore sizes and the possible high pressure drops, they are characteristically very thin, fragile and difficult to handle. The BioVyon^TM materials make ideal supports for membranes, these, and other materials, can be thermally bonded to BioVyon^TM without significant loss of permeability. Applications for this product include use in devices for laboratory sample preparation, pre filtration applications diagnostics and general air and liquid filtration.

Please contact a Porvair Filtration Group company representative for further information and advice on our BioVyon^TM materials.