SUPERPOROUS AGAROSE, A NEW MATERIAL FOR CHROMATOGRAPHY

This paper reports on a new type of spherical agarose chromatography p articles characterized by two sets of pores, normal diffusion pores, c haracteristic of all agarose materials and very wide pores, so-called superpores or flow pores. These superpores allow part of the chromatog raphic flow to pass through each individual particle, which gives impr oved mass transfer, especially in situations where diffusion is the li miting factor for the overall performance of a chromatographic separat ion. The particles were prepared by a double emulsification procedure. Observations under a microscope and size-exclusion chromatography wer e used in order to demonstrate pore flow. The chromatographic behaviou r of the new particles was as efficient as that of homogeneous particl es which were several times smaller. The agarose particles were deriva tized with polyethyleneimine and used for an ion-exchange chromatograp hic separation of three model proteins. As expected from a perfusion m aterial, the superporous beads resolved the protein mixture more effic iently than homogeneous beads of the same size.