Passivated porous supports and methods for the preparation and use of same

A passivated chromatographic media comprising (i) a porous mineral oxide substrate matrix having interior and exterior surfaces and innate groups that render said substrate matrix susceptible to undesirable non-specific interaction with biological molecules, and (ii) a three-dimensional, pore-filling gel network derived from polymerization of a main monomer, a neutralizing monomer different from said main monomer and having one or more polar and/or cationic functional group(s) and one or more reactive functional group(s), and a crosslinking agent, wherein said monomers and said crosslinking agent have first been allowed to come into intimate contact with said surfaces of said substrate matrix before said polymerization to form said gel network, wherein said polar and/or cationic functional groups of said neutralizing monomer are substantially adjacent to and interact with said innate groups of said substrate matrix, and said reactive functional groups of said neutralizing monomer when polymerized are covalently linked to said main monomers, and wherein said gel network has become associated with said surfaces of said porous substrate matrix by means of non-covalent interactions between said innate groups of said substrate matrix and said neutralizing monomer, and said gel network extends into and throughout the porous volume of said substrate matrix to substantially fill said porous volume, and wherein said innate groups of said substrate matrix have become deactivated, resulting in the substantial elimination of said undesirable non-specific interaction.