Polyvinyl alcohol-coated macroporous polystyrene particles as stationary phases for the chromatography of proteins.

A method is described for the hydrophilization of macroporous poly(styrene-divinylbenzene) (PS-DVB) beads by adsorption of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). PVA adsorbs strongly to PS-DVB surfaces but partially desorbs when exposed to protein solutions. To overcome this problems, the polymeric adsorbed layer was stabilized by crosslinking. We report the effect of polymer adsorption and crosslinking conditions on the amount of adsorbed PVA, on the stability of the polymeric layer and on the hydrophilization efficiency with regard to bovine serum albumin-a strongly hydrophobic protein. The properties of the coated supports were also evaluated by size-exclusion chromatography. PVA coating was shown to greatly reduce hydrophobic interactions. The pore size of modified PS-DVB particles was found to decrease significantly with increasing amounts of adsorbed PVA.