Introduction To Tangential Flow Filtration

Tangential flow filtration (TFF), also known as cross flow filtration, is a rapid and efficient method for the separation and purification of biomolecules. The process fluid passes tangentially across the surface of a filter membrane, and as a pressure differential is applied to the system, constituents in the sample that are small enough to travel through the pore structure of the membrane will pass in to the filtrate. Larger constituents will be retained and recirculate around the flow path of the system.

The method can be applied to a wide range of biological fields, such as immunology, protein chemistry, molecular biology, biochemistry, and microbiology. TFF can be used to concentrate and desalt sample solutions ranging in volumes from 10 mL to thousands of liters. It can be used to fractionate large from small biomolecules, harvest cell suspensions, and clarify fermentation broths and cell lysates.

Learn about TFF, typical system configurations for TFF, ultrafiltration fundamentals, applications, system selection considerations, and more.