Vivaflow® Tangential Flow Filtration (TFF) Cassettes
Also known as crossflow filtration, TFF is used to concentrate, buffer exchange and desalt macromolecules such as proteins, viruses, nucleic acids, and nanoparticles. Although TFF originated in commercial manufacturing, it is increasingly relevant and popular in research laboratories where larger sample (feed) volumes need to be processed.
Groundbreaking Vivaflow® cassettes from Sartorius simplify lab scale TFF for researchers who need to prioritize efficiency over complexity. Available in reusable and single-use formats with our most comprehensive selection of membrane materials and MWCOs, you can always find the right solution for effortless concentration and buffer exchange of any molecule from 0.1 to 5 L feed volumes.
Shop Lab TFF Products
Sartorius Vivaflow® Cassettes Feature:
Ready to go with the flow. Effortlessly scale up from centrifugal ultrafilters to TFF cassettes, with fast and simple set up right out of the box.
Push your research budget further. Avoid expensive TFF systems and cassette holders with an all-in-one design that is built to run with a standard peristaltic pump.
Put down the calculator. Advanced flow paths and a fixed occlusion restrictor deliver ultra-efficient TFF without tedious process optimization.
Lossless handling and ultimate flexibility. Maximize capacity, speed and recovery for virtually any molecule, with modular single-use or reusable options to suit every process.
Vivaflow® SU is responsibly made. Reduce your research footprint with cassettes that contain 30.5% less plastic from renewable, ISCC PLUS certified sources, and fine-tuned tubing kits that suit precisely how you use Vivaflow®.
Read the Sustainability Facts Sheet
Learn About the Introduction of ISCC PLUS
Lab TFF and Its Applications
Tangential Flow Filtration Principle
In TFF, a sample flows parallel to the membrane surface in a cassette. A pump provides positive pressure to recirculate the sample between the cassette and a feed reservoir and drive the continuous separation of particles or macromolecules (feed | retentate) from the liquid (permeate) based on size or molecular weight. The constant flow of feed | retentate also generates low shear stresses at the membrane surface to effectively prevent fouling, polarization and blocking.
Need to clarify a secreted protein or virus before TFF?
TFF is an efficient method for concentration and buffer exchange from feed volumes ≥100 mL.
Simplified TFF
When feed volumes exceed the capacity of centrifugal ultrafilters, concentration and buffer exchange can become labour intensive and time consuming. However, TFF based on scale-down process technology is expensive and complicated.
Vivaflow® is the only TFF solution designed specifically for the lab. Its unique design allows for fast and intuitive set up and efficient UF | DF with only a peristaltic pump, eliminating the need to optimize feed flow rates, transmembrane pressures, and filtrate flux. This substantially reduces cost and user effort while ensuring high process speed and maximum target recovery.
Scale-Down TFF Cassettes | Vivaflow® TFF Cassettes | |
|---|---|---|
Economical |
|
|
Easy Set Up |
|
|
Optimization-Free |
|
|
Convenient Diafiltration
Easy for you and gentle on your sample. The Vivaflow® feed reservoir makes both ultrafiltration and diafiltration extremely convenient. First, a sample is concentrated to the desired final volume. Then a length of tubing is placed into a separate vessel containing the exchange buffer and connected to the reservoir. An airtight seal in the feed reservoir lid allows continuous diafiltration - as the original buffer continues to permeate the ultrafiltration membrane, it is replaced by an equivalent volume of exchange buffer. This reduces buffer consumption and avoids sample dilution.
Continuous diafiltration is quick and easy with the Vivaflow® feed reservoir.
Easy Scale Up
The modular design of Vivaflow® allows two cassettes to be connected in series or parallel. This supports increased throughput for larger feed volumes or increased processing speed for smaller samples. To run Vivaflow® SU in series, simply order a pack of cassettes for serial operation. To run two Vivaflow® 50R | 200 cassettes, tubing kits for parallel operation are available to purchase separately.
Run multiple Vivaflow® cassettes together, to increase throughput or reduce time-to-result.
Selected Lab TFF Educational Resources
Manuals, Datasheets, and Other Documentation
Vivaflow® SU - Go Against the Flow: Intuitive, Efficient and Sustainable TFF for the Lab
PDF | 1.1 MB
Reviews and Testimonials
Customer Reviews
Customer Testimonials
Testimonials may be anonymized to respect customer confidentiality.
Good initiative with good benefit."
This is a great example of combining product design, material spec, and packaging development to deliver a strong innovation.
It looks like Sartorius has considered multiple angles in working to make this product more sustainable. Materials, process, package contents, and the packaging itself are all well thought out.
Impressive sustainable claims.
Brilliantly thought-through redesign with strong sustainability gains across materials, packaging, and water use. Would’ve loved to see completed carbon impact figures to round it off.
Shows reduction of plastic dependence on crude oil and fossil sources, which is great to see.
Request a Demo, Trial, Quote & More
Frequently Asked Questions
TFF is the acronym for “tangential flow filtration” – a common flow configuration in lab scale filters that are used for sample concentration and buffer exchange.
In TFF, also known as crossflow filtration, the feed flows and is recirculated parallel to the membrane surface. In contrast, NFF, or dead-end filtration, directs the feed perpendicular to the membrane in a single pass.
The fluid dynamics at the membrane surface prevent concentration polarization and fouling. This enables higher sample throughput and maximizes target molecule recovery rates. Therefore, TFF is the most efficient configuration for sample concentration and buffer exchange from large feed volumes that would otherwise block a normal flow filter.
Ultrafiltration and diafiltration are process steps used to concentrate and rebuffer samples, whereas TFF describes the most common flow configuration used to carry out these processes.
TFF is used for ultrafiltration and diafiltration processes when samples need to be concentrated, rebuffered, or desalted.
A filtration unit comprising a flat sheet membrane(s), which is sealed inside a housing with flow channels for the feed, retentate and permeate sample streams.
Vivaflow® TFF cassettes are available with the following MWCO | pore size membranes:
- Vivaflow® SU: 3 - 1,000 kDa or 0.2 μm PES, or 2 - 300 kDa Hydrosart® RC
- Vivaflow® 50R: 5 - 100 kDa Hydrosart® RC
- Vivaflow® 200: 3 - 100 kDa or 0.2 μm PES, or 2 – 100 kDa Hydrosart® RC
For more detailed information on membrane availability, please refer to the product datasheets.
Two cassettes, a tubing kit for either individual or serial operation, and a quick start guide.
One cassette, one tubing kit (for individual operation), and a quick start guide.
Quick start guides are provided in the product packaging and the full instruction manuals can be downloaded from this product page or in the Sartorius eShop.
Cassettes with a 50 cm² membrane area are recommended for feed volumes of 0.1 - 0.5 L. Two cassettes can be run in series or parallel (depending on the chosen model) to double the throughput to 1 L.
For feed volumes from 0.5 - 2.5 L, cassettes with a 200 cm² membrane area are recommended, and throughput can again be doubled, up to 5 L, by running two cassettes in parallel.
A peristaltic pump is all that is needed to use Vivaflow® cassettes. Sartorius recommends and sells Watson-Marlow pumps for this purpose.
The optional stand is a useful accessory for Vivaflow® SU cassettes to keep your workspace tidy, and we always recommend using the pressure indicator that is included in each pack of cassettes.
You can use any vessels such as bottles, beakers, or measuring cylinders to contain your feed sample and collect the permeate. However, we recommend using the dedicated feed reservoir for the most secure tubing connections, and especially when running a diafiltration process.
Most configurations require the pump head for 1.6 mm WT tubing. The pump head for 2.4 mm WT tubing is only needed when you will run two Vivaflow® 200 cassettes in parallel.
Choose packs of cassettes for individual operation when processing a sample for the first time and | or when the initial sample volume is ≤500 mL. For process volumes up to 1 L, or for increased process speed, choose the packs for serial operation.
Nothing! Simply order a pack of cassettes for serial operation, and the correct tubing set will be included.
We recommend the Vivaflow® cassette stand to help keep your workspace tidy and minimize the amount of space taken up by the two cassettes.
Complete, plug and play tubing kits are available to purchase separately.
To run two Vivaflow® 50R cassettes in parallel, use order number VF-ATP0011-1. T-connectors are included in this kit to divide the feed stream between the two cassettes, and to combine the retentate streams for return to the feed reservoir.
To run two Vivaflow® 200 cassettes in parallel, use order number VF-ATP0012-1. In this kit, a Y-connector divides the feed stream between the two cassettes, and a T-connector is used to combine the retentate streams for return to the feed reservoir.
Vivaflow® cassettes are stable for use with most common aqueous buffers and some solvents. Additional compatibility is afforded by the reusable cassettes. For further information, please refer to the instruction manuals.
For laboratory dedicated TFF, Vivaflow® SU offers the broadest choice of membrane materials and MWCOs. This already helps to ensure high recoveries of virtually any molecule.
In addition, it is normal to finish TFF processes with a low volume buffer flush through the entire flow path. With Vivaflow®, the resulting sample can be combined with the retentate to achieve yields up to 98% or more, relative to the feed sample.
No. Vivaflow® SU is intended for single use and is not compatible with typical cleaning agents.
Reusability can vary from sample to sample, but these cassettes only need to be used about three times to benefit from lower operating costs.
We recommend replacing Vivaflow® 50R | 200 cassettes after a maximum of five runs, and always before the expiry date printed on the packaging label. Separate cassettes should be used for each target molecule or sample batch to eliminate the risk of carryover.
Wear to peristaltic pump tubing is expected with normal use and carryover from previous runs can lead to experimental failures. Therefore, we recommend replacing the supplied tubing with a new tubing kit for the second and any subsequent runs.
