Superporous pellicular agarose–glass composite particle for protein adsorption

A superporous pellicular agarose–glass (SPAG) composite particle has been prepared by coating 6% agarose gel onto glass beads through water-in-oil emulsification using a mixture of cyclohexane and fine calcium carbonate granules as porogenic agent. After cross-linking, the cyclohexane was removed by proper solvent and the solid granules were removed by dissolving them in hydrochloric acid. Then, the composite particle was modified with diethylaminoethyl (DEAE) groups to create an anion exchanger, DEAE-SPAG for protein adsorption. Both optical microscopy and SEM revealed the superporous pellicular structure of the SPAG composite particle. With the average size (127.8 μm) and the mean density (1.7 g/ml), the DEAE-SPAG showed favorable an adsorption capacity of 148 mg/ml and a diffusivity of Dp, 2.6 × 10−11 m2/s for bovine serum albumin (BSA). All the results indicated that the SPAG medium is promising for effective protein adsorption.