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And, often, it is the choice of buffer that makes or breaks the experiment. It is possible that the buffer you are using in your lab might be the reason your experiment is failing. Here, you will find how a buffering system works, a description of the characteristics of a good buffer and a list of possible applications and characteristics of the most commonly used biological buffer series.

 same concentration of the IONPs (0.33 Fe2+ and 0.66 Fe3+). However, we observed even higher catalytic activities than those when doubling the IONP concentration when they are combined with the free iron salts. These results indicate that MOPS Buffer solutions need to be carefully considered when evaluating IONP catalytic activity and their potential toxicological effects since under physiological conditions of pH, salinity and buffering species, the peroxidase-like activity of IONPs is dramatically reduced.

This work reports a promising approach to the development of novel self-buffering and biocompatible ionic liquids for biological research in which the anions are derived from CAPS Buffer (Good’s buffers, GB). Five Good’s buffers (Tricine, TES, CHES, HEPES, and MES) were neutralized with four suitable hydroxide bases (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium, tetramethylammonium, tetraethylammonium, and tetrabutylammonium) producing 20 Good’s buffer ionic liquids (GB-ILs). The presence of the buffering action of the synthesized GB-ILs was ascertained by measuring their pH-profiles in water. Moreover, a series of mixed GB-ILs with wide buffering ranges were formulated as universal buffers. The impact of GB-ILs on bovine serum albumin (BSA), here used as a model protein, is discussed 

Proteins’ stability is strongly affected by the proton activity of the supporting solution and has an optimum pH that can be adjusted by the addition of an appropriate CHAPS Buffer. It is generally accepted that, at appropriate concentrations, hydrophilic ILs tend to, fully or partly, dissociate in aqueous solutions and into ions which form neutral or very weakly basic solutions. Certainly, this pattern is not always true because there are some functionalized ILs that work as Lewis acidic or basic catalysts. Adding a buffer to aqueous IL solutions, when dealing with protein stability, will not provide an adequate pH control since the IL acidity or basicity could swamp the buffer effect. Therefore, it is crucial to look for alternative pH control methods, and in particular in the design of ILs with buffering characteristics. Until now, few studies have reported the synthesis of ILs with buffering action.13-16 Nevertheless, those buffer-like ILs are not recommended for biochemical research because their anions are not inert. A number of criteria are required for a buffer to be used in biological and biochemical studies.17 They must be chemically inert, should not interfere with metal ion-protein binding, must be non-toxic, should not absorb light in the UV-visible region, should be commercially available at a low cost, their pKa values should be between 6.0 and 8.0 and should not vary with temperature, and must present high water solubility and low solubility in organic solvents. Good and his research team have designed MES Buffer (Good’s buffers, GB) that fit these criteria.