Characterization of Macroporous Polymeric Supports by Relaxation Measurement

E.V. SILLETTA; G.A. MONTI; C.G. GOMEZ; M.C. STRUMIA; R. H. ACOSTA

Dublin

Congreso; EUROMAR 2012; 2012

Characterization of macroporous polymeric supports by diffusion and relaxation measurements. The aim of most of the research in the field of ion exchange is to enhance functional properties such as selectivity and capacity, which have direct impact on the applicability of the resins. These supports can also be employed as anion exchangers or in affinity chromatography after attaching a ligand. In this way, matrix derivatives with alkyl amines can be used in affinity chromatography for the purification of amine oxidases or other proteins with affinity for the amino group, for instance, bilirubin. In this work we study the influence of changes in the content of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) percentage and stirring speed on the formation of the macroporous network. It has previously been shown that the polymer mesh changes radically with the percentage of EGDMA upon absorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA), which was used as a representative large biological substrate. In this work we use 1H-CPMG and diffusion sequences to obtain information on the distribution of transverse relaxation times and time dependent diffusion coefficients of polar and non-polar solvents contained in the matrices. We observe a narrow distribution of porous sizes for the networks that are able to absorb BSA molecules while two very distinct pore sizes appear in the networks with the lower content of EGDMA.