Efficient adsorption of hemoglobin from aqueous solutions by hybrid monolithic cryogel column

•Cu2 +-ABPs embedded super macroporous monolithic hybrid cryogel was prepared.•Effects of pH, Hb and NaCl concentration, flow rate, on Hb adsorption were studied.•Cu2 +-ABPs EHMC showed excellent adsorption performance (521.6 mg/g) for Hb.

In this study, a supermacroporous poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA)-based Cu2 +-attached bentonite particles embedded hybrid monolithic cryogel (Cu2 +-ABPs EHMC) was prepared by radical cryo-copolymerization of HEMA with N,N′-methylene-bis-acrylamide (MBAAm) as a cross-linker directly in a plastic syringe in the presence of Cu2 +-ABPs, and used for hemoglobin (Hb) separation from aqueous solution. Due to the naturally abundant hydroxyl groups on bentonite, Cu2-attached bentonite particles (Cu2 +-ABPs) embedded hybrid monolithic cryogel (HMC) showed a good adsorption performance for Hb, covering an excellent adsorption capacity of 521.6 mg/g bentonite in phosphate buffer at pH 6.0 with a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min, fast binding stability within 60 min, well selectivity and reversibility. Compared with other adsorbent systems used for protein separation, this sorbent has many advantages such as excellent adsorption performance, ease of preparation, suitable, effective and environment-friendly to perform, which can serve as a more sustainable material in protein separation and purification.

Graphical abstractDownload high-res image (269KB)Download full-size image