Ni(II) chelated IDA functionalized poly(HEMA-GMA) cryogels for urease adsorption.

Cryogelic support materials have been intensively used for the purification and separation of biomolecules. Cryogels are cheap materials, they can be easily used for different purposes and their chemical and physical stabilities are very high. Cryogels can also be easily functionalized with different type of ligands and are be applicable to different affinity systems. Within these affinity systems, immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) offers efficient and simple protein purification strategies. IMAC technology has been deeply applied to bioseparations studies. In the present chapter, the preparation of a cryogel support material and the functionalization with the chelating agent iminodiacetic acid (IDA) and the subsequent Ni(II) chelation are described. Characterization techniques and the cryogel preparation method are summarized and urease adsorption studies on the metal chelate cryogel are briefly explained.