Analytical Ultracentrifugation (AUC)

UC is widely used in academic settings, as well as the pharmaceutical, food and polymer industries. There are two types of AUC experiment, sedimentation velocity and sedimentation equilibrium. In sedimentation velocity (Figure 1), the rate of boundary movement (s) and the boundary spreading (D) provides information about the mass, size, shape and interactions of molecules. Sedimentation equilibrium (Figure 2) provides thermodynamic information about the solution molar mass, interactions and nonideality of molecules. Molecules with molar masses from a few hundred to several hundred million can benefit from AUC analysis.

Graph Sedimentation Velocity Example
Figure 1: Graph Sedimentation Velocity Example.

Graph Sedimentation Equilibrium Example
Figure 2: Graph Sedimentation Equilibrium Example.

In AUC analysis, a variety of optical systems may be used to obtain concentration profiles (Figures 1 and 2) from the spinning sample. In addition to the centrifuge and optical systems, AUC data acquisition requires the use of specialized components: rotors, sample holders (cells and centerpieces), window assemblies, gaskets and seals. Many of the components are made only by Spin Analytical. In addition, Spin Analytical makes a variety of unique tools that ease cell assembly, alignment and cleaning. All of our cells, components and tools are compatible with the Beckman-Coulter XLA/I.