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Bead Mills What is a classic bead mill?

Overview

A bead mill is a type of equipment used for ultrafine grinding and dispersing of particles. It operates on the principle of impact and attrition: grinding media (beads) made of glass, ceramic, or steel are agitated inside a vessel or a chamber by a rotating shaft with impellers, causing the particles to break into smaller sizes due to collision and shear forces.

Bead mills are widely used in industries such as paints, inks, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and agrochemicals for the preparation of high-quality dispersions, emulsions, and suspensions. The key advantages of bead mills include their ability to achieve very fine particle sizes (often sub-micron), improved product stability, and uniform particle distribution. There are various types of bead mills, including horizontal and vertical configurations, each designed for specific applications and capacity requirements.

What is the difference between a bead mill and an attritor mill?

Bead mills and attritor mills are both used for grinding and dispersing materials down to fine particle sizes. Bead mills work by agitating a mixture of the material to be ground and a grinding medium (beads) with a rotating agitator. This causes the beads to collide with the particles of the feed, breaking them into finer particles. The process is also known as bead milling and the focus is on the chaotic movement, driven by the motion of the beads. Attritor mills, also known as stirred ball mills, operate by rotating a shaft with arms or discs that stir the media and the feed inside a vertical or horizontal tank. This stirring action causes a continuous circulation of the feed and media, creating intense shearing and impact forces that grind the material.

Key Differences

  • Mechanism of Action: Bead mills rely more on the energy generated from the motion of the beads within the mill, whereas attritor mills rely on the action of the rotating shaft with attached arms or discs to stir the media and feed.
  • Grinding Media Size: Bead mills generally use smaller grinding media compared to attritor mills, which enables finer particle size reduction.
  • Dispersion vs. Grinding: While both mills can achieve dispersion and grinding, bead mills are more commonly associated with dispersion applications for nanoparticles and fine chemicals, whereas attritor mills are often used for a broader range of grinding applications.

What are the differences between Planetary Ball Mills and Bead mills?

Bead mills and planetary ball mills are both widely used for particle size reduction and the dispersion of materials in various industries, but they have distinct applications based on their operating principles and the results they achieve.

  • Bead mills are primarily used for ultrafine grinding and the dispersion of particles to nano and sub-micron levels. They excel in processing liquid or paste-like materials. Planetary ball mills are used for mixing, homogenizing, and grinding across a broad range of applications, from soft to extremely hard materials. They are well-suited for achieving particle sizes ranging from a few micrometers down to the nano range.
  • Bead mills are especially effective for materials that are difficult to grind, including pigments, nanoparticles, and pharmaceutical compounds. Planetary Ball Mills are versatile, allowing for dry, wet, and even cryogenic grinding. They are used in fields such as material science, metallurgy, pharmaceuticals, and chemistry for sample preparation and research.
  • Material State: Bead mills are more suitable for liquid or semi-liquid materials, which makes them ideal for wet grinding applications. Planetary ball mills, on the other hand, are versatile, handling dry, wet, or even cryogenic materials.

遊星ボールミル
遊星ボールミル

The Planetary Ball mills, the Mixer Mills MM 500 nano and MM 500 control, as well as the High Energy Ball Mill Emax, offer greater versatility compared to Bead Mills. All these mills are suitable for both dry and wet grinding. Unlike bead mills, RETSCH ball mills can also process larger sample pieces using larger grinding balls. Instead of agitating a liquid/bead mixture, the movement of the grinding jars in these mills ensures excellent circulation of the beads, leading to extremely fine grinding results. Therefore, the RETSCH Planetary Ball mills, the MM 500 nano and MM 500 control, and the Emax can be considered as an alternative to traditional bead mills.

ミキサーミル MM 500 nano

 

ミキサーミル MM 500 nano

ミキサーミル MM 500 コントロール

 

ミキサーミル MM 500 コントロール

高エネルギーボールミル　Emax

 

高エネルギーボールミル　Emax

To the top overview

生物試料と細胞破壊

用途に合わせたソリューション

ミキサーミル MM 400 - 酵母細胞の破砕


クリックして動画を見る

 
ミキサーミル MM 400 - 酵母細胞の破砕*

*動画は、粉砕原理が同じ前モデルを撮影したものです。

Learn more

What is bead beating?

Bead beating is a technique used to lyse or disrupt cells and tissues to extract intracellular contents, including nucleic acids (DNA, RNA), proteins, and other cellular components. This method involves the vigorous agitation of a sample mixed with small, often spherical, beads in a closed container. The beads are made from various materials such as glass, ceramic, steel, or zirconium, depending on the type of sample and the desired outcome.

The process works by physically shearing the cells apart as they collide with the beads and each other due to the high-speed shaking or vortexing of the sample. The effectiveness of bead beating is influenced by several factors, including the size and material of the beads, the speed and duration of agitation, the type and strength of the cell walls or membranes being disrupted, and the volume and consistency of the sample.

Bead beating is a versatile technique used across a range of applications, from molecular biology and biochemistry to environmental science and food testing. It is particularly useful for processing difficult-to-lyse samples, such as yeast, fungi, algae, and tissues from plants and animals, as well as for homogenizing samples with mixed cell types. The method offers several advantages, including the ability to process multiple samples simultaneously, the potential for high-throughput automation, and compatibility with a wide variety of sample types.

ミキサーミル MM 400

 

ミキサーミル MM 400

ミキサーミル MM 400 - 細胞破砕や生体試料からのDNA/RNAの抽出にも使用可能
 

ミキサーミル MM 400 - 細胞破砕や生体試料からのDNA/RNAの抽出にも使用可能

Another RETSCH ball mill, the Mixer Mill MM 400, is well known for a process called bead beating, and thus also is a bead mill.

The MM 400 processes up to 20 samples in 1.5 or 2 ml Eppendorf tubes without cross contamination which saves time for the operator. Additionally, an adapter is available to accommodate up to eight 50 ml Falcon tubes. The optimal bead size for cell disruption varies based on the cell type; for bacteria and yeast, glass beads ranging from 0.75 to 1.5 mm are recommended, while smaller beads within the range of 0.1 to 0.5 mm are more suitable for fungi and microalgae.

For DNA or RNA extraction, smaller single-use tubes up to 2 ml are ideal, whereas larger vials like the 50 ml Falcon tubes are well-suited for processing cell suspensions up to 240 ml in total for proteins or metabolites. The optimum bead beating parameters vary according to cell type. It may take some experimenting to find the best results. Usually, 30 s (most microalgae) to 7 min (yeasts in general) of bead beating are required to fully disrupt the cells.

Mixer Mill MM 500 VARIOは、2mlのバイアルを50本まで使用できるため、サンプルのスループットが効果的に向上します。

 

ファルコンチューブアダプターとミキサーミルMM400を組み合わせた細胞破砕前（左）と細胞破砕後（右）のトリカブトの細胞。

安全で効率的な粉砕手順 MM400　用ｱｸｾｻﾘ

粉砕ジャーの材質は６種類

粉砕ジャーは7種類の材質から選択可能

  • The nominal volume of the screw-top grinding jars ranges from 1.5 ml to 50 ml.
  • Available materials include hardened steel, stainless steel, agate, tungsten carbide, zirconium oxide and PTFE, ensuring contamination-free sample preparation.
  • Transparent PMMA grinding jars are used for in-situ RAMAN spectroscopy but also enable applications with photochemical reactions. Moreover, these are resistant to a variety of chemicals.
  • The jars can be used with the predecessor of the MM 400 just like older jar models are compatible with the latest mixer mill model.
ディスポチューブ用アダプタ

ディスポチューブ用アダプタ

  • Adapters for 0.5 / 1.5 / 2 / 5 ml single-use vials can be used in the MM 400.
  • For larger sample amounts, e. g. for protein extraction, adapters for 50 ml conical centrifugation tubes or 30 ml wide-mouth bottles are available.
一度に破砕できる検体数を増やすことが出来るアダプタ

一度に破砕できる検体数を増やすことが出来るアダプタ

  • The MM 400 can be equipped with adapters that accommodate four 5 ml stainless-steel grinding jars, allowing for simultaneous pulverization of a maximum of 8 samples.
  • This increased throughput is particularly beneficial for mechanochemical applications.
To the top overview

Temperature control in bead mills

Controlling the temperature can be crucial in wet grinding processes or bead beating processes as many materials processed in bead mills are temperature-sensitive. Excessive heat can cause undesirable chemical reactions or physical changes, such as polymer degradation, color changes in pigments, or changes in the crystalline structure of materials. For cell disruption, proteins are very temperature-sensitive and degrade quickly. Maintaining an optimal temperature ensures the integrity of the material's properties. Another aspect is the viscosity: Temperature fluctuations can affect the viscosity of the slurry being processed, which in turn influences the grinding efficiency and the quality of dispersion. A stable temperature ensures consistent viscosity, which is critical for achieving uniform particle sizes and a stable dispersion.

To manage these issues, bead mills often incorporate temperature control mechanisms, such as cooling jackets or external chillers, which circulate a cooling fluid around the grinding chamber to dissipate excess heat. Some mills also feature temperature monitoring systems to enable precise control over the process conditions.

RETSCH offers two bead mills where the temperature can be controlled easily during wet grinding or bead beating: The High Energy Ball Mill Emax and the Mixer Mill MM 500 control.

Highly Efficient Cooling System in the Emax

The development of a high-energy ball mill presents a significant challenge in temperature management, as the intense energy required for size reduction generates substantial heat within the grinding jar. RETSCH has addressed this issue with a novel water-cooling system integrated into the mill. Consequently, the Emax typically does not necessitate cooling breaks, which are common in long-term processes using traditional ball mills, even at reduced speeds. In the Emax, the cooling system effectively lowers the temperature of the grinding jars through the jar brackets. This method is highly efficient since water dissipates heat more readily than air. Users have the flexibility to select from three cooling modes: besides the built-in cooling, the mill can be connected to a chiller or directly to a water tap to further reduce the temperature. A chiller set to 4°C is the best choice to assure ambient temperatures for wet grinding processes when the Emax is used as a bead mill.

Emax
休止時間を大幅に削減

Innovative cooling system in the MM 500 control

MM 500 コントロールは、最大30Hzの周波数で乾式、湿式、凍結粉砕が可能な高エネルギー実験用ボールミルです。MM 500 コントロールは、粉砕プロセスの温度をモニターしてコントロールできる、市場で初めてのミキサーミルです。

温度領域は-100～100℃の範囲をカバーしており、汎用性の高いオプション機能となっています。本機はさまざまな熱流体を使用することができるため、冷却や加熱に多くのテンパリング装置を使用することができます。冷却に液体窒素を選択した場合は、オプションの拡張装置クライオパッドを使用して本体を拡張する必要があります。革新的なクライオパッド技術により、粉砕プロセスにおける特定の冷却温度を-100～0℃の範囲で選択・制御することができます。

For bead beating and wet grinding, the use of the external chiller set to 4 °C is a good choice, so that cell suspensions are efficiently cooled and heat from wet grinding processes is effectively dissipated.

サーマルプレートによる温度調節

試料の冷却と加熱は、特許取得済みのサーマルプレートによって行われ、開放型の液体窒素槽やドライアイスなどによる試料の冷却は不要です。粉砕ジャーをサーマルプレートの上に置くだけです。粉砕ジャーがサーマルプレートに接触すると、テンパリング装置を介して粉砕ジャーへ効果的に熱が伝わります。特許取得済みの密閉式流体設計により、異なる熱流体を使用して粉砕機を運転することができ、柔軟で安全な温度調節が可能で、作業者の負担軽減にもつながります。サーマルプレートの温度は-100～+100℃の範囲で設定できます。

特許取得のサーマルプレートコンセプト
ミキサーミル MM 500 コントロール

Multi-cavity jars & adapter in the MM 500 control Bead Mill

マルチキャビティジャーと反応バイアル用アダプターを使用すれば、複数の少量サンプルの同時処理が可能です。これは、例えば、製薬、化学、生化学アプリケーションの典型的な要件です。小さなキャビティジャーは、少量の化学物質を含むメカノケミカル研究活動に新たな機会を提供します。

ジャー内の空洞は、効果的な混合を確実にする楕円形をしています。また、注入補助容器により、安全にサンプルを取り扱うことができます。マルチキャビティジャーはステンレス製で、試料への熱伝導が効果的に行われます。

アダプターは、1.5mlまたは2.0mlの使い捨て反応バイアル（例：エッペンドルフバイアル）18本、または2.0mlのスチールチューブ9本まで収納可能です。2つの粉砕ステーションを備えたMM500コントロールミキサーミルは、1回の操作で最大36検体を処理できます。ポリマーの反応容器は極端な温度での機械的負荷に耐えられないため、サンプルの凍結や加熱が必要な場合は、2.0mlスチールチューブを使用する必要があります。アダプターはアルミニウム製で、反応管との間で熱が効率よく伝達されます。

10ml×4本、25ml×2本のマルチキャビティジャー、ステンレス製、PTFE製注出補助具付き。
 

10ml×4本、25ml×2本のマルチキャビティジャー、ステンレス製、PTFE製注出補助具付き。

アルミニウム製、18 x 2 ml セーフロック反応バイアル・9 x 2 ml スチールチューブ用アダプター
 

アルミニウム製、18 x 2 ml セーフロック反応バイアル・9 x 2 ml スチールチューブ用アダプター

To the top overview

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粉砕機
粉砕機

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Bead Mill - FAQ

Can RETSCH Ball Mills be considered as bead mills?

Yes, as the different ball mills work with agitation of small beads in liquid to minimize sample´s particle size or for cell disruption, RETSCH Mills can be regarded as bead mills. For Mixer Mills RETSCH offers special adapters designed for bead beating and cell disruption.

Is cooling important for bead mills?

Yes, cooling is crucial for bead mills assuring a good viscosity and ambient temperatures, so that temperature-sensitive substances are not evaporated or degraded