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Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Organic Solvent-Based Protein Precipitation for Robust Proteome Purification Ahead of Mass Spectrometry
Published on: February 7, 2022
Depletion theory and the precipitation of protein by polymer
1Complex Fluids Theory, Kluyver Laboratory of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands. odijktcf@wanadoo.nl
Abstract:
The depletion theory of nanoparticles immersed in a semidilute polymer solution is reinterpreted in terms of depleted chains of polymer segments. Limitations and extensions of mean-field and scaling theories are discussed. An explicit expression for the interaction between two small spheres is also reviewed. The depletion free energy for a particle of general shape is given in terms of the capacitance or effective Stokes radius. This affords a reasonable explanation for the effect of polymer on protein precipitation.
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