CROSS-LINKED N,N-DIMETHYLAMINOPROPYLACRYLAMIDE SPHERICAL-PARTICLES FOR SELECTIVE REMOVAL OF ENDOTOXIN

Spherical polymer adsorbents for endotoxin adsorption were prepared by suspension copolymerization of N,N-dimethylaminopropylacrylamide (DMA PAA) with N-allylacrylamide (AAA). The amino-group contents and the po re size of the adsorbents were easily adjusted by changing the monomer ratio and diluent ratio. The more amino groups are introduced, the la rger is the endotoxin-adsorbing capacity of the adsorbent, and the sma ller the pore size (molecular mass exclusion, M(lim)) of the adsorbent , the less acidic proteins such as bovine serum albumin art adsorbed. When M(lim) was smaller than 300 (as the molecular mass of polysacchar ide) and the amino group content was 4.5 mequiv./g, the DMAPAA-AAA ads orbent showed a high endotoxin-removing activity at an ionic strength of mu = 0.05-0.4 and pH 5-9. The adsorbent was also able to remove end otoxin from a protein solution, naturally contaminated with endotoxin, at mu = 0.05 without affecting the recovery of the protein. The adsor bent can be completely regenerated by washing with 0.2 M sodium hydrox ide followed by 2.0 M sodium chloride.