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Polystyrene Microspheres 1.07g/cc - highly spherical thermoplastic biocompatible microparticles
Polystyrene Microspheres 1.07g/cc - highly spherical thermoplastic biocompatible microparticles

Properties of Polystyrene Microspheres

Polystyrene microspheres are in their most pure form, with no surface functionalization, coatings or colorants added.

Crosslinked polystyrene is inert, chemically stable, and safe for handling.

The primary safety precaution is minimizing inhalation of dust for particles less than 10 micron in diameter.

Shelf life is 3 years for unopened products and 1 year after the product has been opened.

These polystyrene microparticles are offered as a dry powder, making them suitable for easy use in a wide variety of applications.

What are technical specifications of Polystyrene Microspheres?

  • Glass Transition Temperature: Tg~ 160°C
  • Density: ~1.07g/cc
  • Refractive index: ~1.6
  • Compression strength: ~ 1.5mN
  • Solvent resistance: Particles will swell to some degree in many organic solvents, like benzene, toluene, some esters, higher ketones, methylene chloride and other chlorinated solvents. Stable in aqueous solvents and alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, or iso-propanol.
  • Surface properties: Surface appears smooth under high magnification Scanning Electron Microscopy.
  • Particle Size: >90% particles in specified size range
  • Sphericity: >95% particles are spherical

What are some applications of Polystyrene Microspheres?

1) Environmental - scientists are still trying to understand the effect of microplastics on the environment. Creating controlled experiments where microplastics behavior is simulated using micropsheres with defined formulation, size, shape, and functionality helps to investigate how varying composition, size, and form factor affect the spread and adsorption of microplastics.

2) Microsphere-Assisted Devices - several methods to improve the optical resolution using the microsphere have recently been verified experimentally, while many scientists are working on incorporating microspheres into various measurement systems such as Flow assays, Immunochromatographic assays, Diagnostic tests, Instrument Calibration, Immunoassays, and Sensors.

3) Platform for diagnostics - Polystyrene particles offered by Cospheric are uncoated and unfunctionalized, supplied in dry form, which presents a flexible platform for research in diagnostics and bio separations. Polystyrene particles can be functionalized by the customer to attach a binding protein or specific functional groups or coatings of their choice.

What scientific publications reference Cospheric's Polystyrene Microspheres?

Here is a sample of articles that reference this product line:

Palaniappan, S., Sadacharan, C.M. & Rostama, B. Polystyrene and Polyethylene Microplastics Decrease Cell Viability and Dysregulate Inflammatory and Oxidative Stress Markers of MDCK and L929 Cells In Vitro. Expo Health 14, 75–85 (2022).

Scientists treated L929 murine fibroblasts and Madin–Darby canine kidney (MDCK) epithelial cell lines with 1 μg/mL, 10 μg/mL, or 20 μg/mL of polyethylene (PE) or polystyrene (PS) microspheres in vitro for 6 and 24 h and measured the resulting changes in cell viability, metabolism, and transcriptional expression of inflammatory cytokines and antioxidant enzymes. They observed dose-dependent decreases in cell viability corresponding to increases in doses of both PE and PS.

Zhao, S., Danley, M., Ward, J.E., Lia, D., Mincer, T., An approach for extraction, characterization and quantitation of microplastic in natural marine snow using Raman microscopy. Analytical Methods.

Researchers present a new dual density separation method employing sodium iodide extraction followed by methanol precipitation, specifically designed for microplastic isolation and identification in natural marine snow samples.

Senčar. J., Hammerschmidt, N., Martins, D., Jungbauer, A. A narrow residence time incubation reactor for continuous virus inactivation based on packed beds, New Biotechnology, Volume 55, 2020, Pages 98-107, ISSN 1871-6784,

A narrow residence time distribution (RTD) is highly desirable for continuous processes where a strict incubation time must be ensured, such as continuous virus inactivation. A packed bed reactor with non-porous inert beads was developed to achieve narrow RTDs. Results indicated that viruses travelled through the column at rates independent of size. This proposal of packed beds as incubation chambers for continuous virus inactivation is simple, scalable, and can be realized as single-use devices.

Gray, A.D. and Weinstein, J.E. (2017), Size- and shape-dependent effects of microplastic particles on adult daggerblade grass shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio). Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 36: 3074-3080.

The objective of the present study was to characterize the size- and shape-dependent effects of microplastic particles (spheres, fibers, and fragments) on the adult daggerblade grass shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio). Grass shrimp were exposed to 11 sizes of plastic: spheres (30, 35, 59, 75, 83, 116, and 165 μm), fragments (34 and 93 μm), and fibers (34 and 93 μm) at a concentration of 2000 particles/400 mL (= 50 000 particles/L) for 3 h. Following exposure, grass shrimp were monitored for survival, ingested and ventilated microplastics, and residence time.

Clark, L., DiBenedetto, M., Ouellette, N., Koseff, J. Settling of inertial nonspherical particles in wavy flowPhysical Review Fluids, 5, 124301

In this study scientists experimentally investigate the settling of plastic rods, disks, and spheres in wavy flows. They find that the average vertical velocities of the particles can both increase and decrease in waves, relative to the particle settling velocity in quiescent flow and demonstrate that accounting for the variation of particle settling velocities with shape and inertia in models is necessary to improve the accuracy of predictions of the transport of microplastics in the ocean.

Nedelcu, O. T., Tibeica, C., Parvulescu, C., Sandu, T. Experiments on dielectrophoretic handling and holographic microscopy imaging of microparticles with targeted applications to biological cell manipulation and visualisation. 2022 International Semiconductor Conference (CAS), Poiana Brasov, Romania, 2022, pp. 265-268.

The dielectrophoretic separation of microparticles is achieved by controlling the applied frequencies and voltages which depend on liquid and suspension dielectric properties. Furthermore, image acquisitions of separated microparticles were performed by digital lensless holographic microscopy and 3D digital image reconstruction. The results show that suspended dielectric microparticles can be manipulated, separated, and holographically visualized, opening the possibility to use the same setup for living cells.

Hwang, J., Choi, D., Han, S. et al. Potential toxicity of polystyrene microplastic particles. Scientific Reports 10, 7391 (2020).

Primary polystyrene (PS) particles were the focus of this study, and scientists investigated the potential impacts of these microplastics on human health at the cellular level. It was determined that polystyrene particles were potential immune stimulants that induced cytokine and chemokine production in a size-dependent and concentration-dependent manner.

Mattioda V, Benedetti V, Tessarolo C, Oberto F, Favole A, Gallo M, Martelli W, Crescio MI, Berio E, Masoero L, Benedetto A, Pezzolato M, Bozzetta E, Grattarola C, Casalone C, Corona C, Giorda F. Pro-Inflammatory and Cytotoxic Effects of Polystyrene Microplastics on Human and Murine Intestinal Cell Lines. Biomolecules. 2023; 13(1):140.

Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous pollutants but, still, little is known about their effects on human and animal health. Researchers aim to investigate cytotoxicity, oxidative stress, inflammation and correlated gene modulation following exposure to polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs) in HRT-18 and CMT-93 epithelial cell lines.

Im, J., Eom, HJ. & Choi, J. Effect of Early-Life Exposure of Polystyrene Microplastics on Behavior and DNA Methylation in Later Life Stage of Zebrafish. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 82, 558–568 (2022).

In this study, researchers investigated the neurodevelopmental toxicity of polystyrene microplastics (PSMPs) in the zebrafish Danio rerio under different exposure scenarios. Zebrafish were exposed to PSMPs during embryonic stage and then allowed the fish to recover. The neurodevelopmental toxic responses were investigated using fish behavior and behavior-related gene expression.

Select Particle Size and Density:
Item # Description/Size Status Price Qty
PSMS-1.07 4.8-5.8um - 200mg
Polystyrene Microspheres 1.07g/cc 4.8-5.8um - 200mg
In Stock $334.87
PSMS-1.07 9.5-11.5um - 500mg
Polystyrene Microspheres 1.07g/cc 9.5-11.5um - 500mg
In Stock $334.87
PSMS-1.07 14-20um - 500mg
Polystyrene Microspheres 1.07g/cc 14-20um - 500mg
In Stock $334.87
PSMS-1.07 38-48um - 500mg
Polystyrene Microspheres 1.07g/cc 38-48um - 500mg
In Stock $334.87
PSMS-1.07 85-105um - 500mg
Polystyrene Microspheres 1.07g/cc 85-105um - 500mg
In Stock $334.87
PSMS-1.10 175-210um - 500mg
Polystyrene Microspheres 1.10g/cc 175-210um - 500mg
In Stock $334.87
PSMS-1.07 210-220um - 500mg
Polystyrene Microspheres 1.07g/cc 210-220um - 500mg
In Stock $586.02
PSMS-1.07 500-600um - 500mg
Polystyrene Microspheres 1.07g/cc 500-600um - 500mg
In Stock $586.02
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