Room temperature stable agarose solutions

A method for making porous crosslinked agarose hydrogel coated structures comprising:

• a) impregnating a porous substrate selected from the group consisting of fibers, woven fabrics, non-woven fabrics, membranes, mats, monolithic honeycomb structures, felt sheets, poly(HIPES) monolithic structures, three dimensional structures, sponges, and porous beads, with a room temperature stable aqueous agarose solution containing,
• i) water,
• ii) agarose having a concentration in the aqueous solution from about 0.1% to about 20%, and
• iii) a gel-inhibiting agent having a concentration in the aqueous solution from about 18 to about 54%, and selected from the group consisting of ZnCl2, LiCl, NaOH, LiNO3, LiOH, LiSCN and mixtures thereof;
• b) forming a room temperature stable aqueous agarose coating on the substrate;
• c) evaporating the water from the agarose coating;
• d) exposing the agarose coating to a gelling agent selected from the group consisting of acetone and acetone in water to form a porous agarose hydrogel coated substrate;
• and
• e) exposing the agarose hydrogel coated substrate to a crosslinking agent selected form the group consisting of epichlorohydrin, multifunctional epoxy compounds, multifunctional halide compounds, formaldehyde, gluteraldehyde, multifunctional aldehyde compounds, bis(2-hydroxy ethyl)sulfone, dimethyldichlorosilane, dimethylolurea, dimethylol ethylene urea, diisocyanate compounds, and polyisocyanate compounds to form a porous crosslinked agarose hydrogel coated substrate.

A method for making a liquid chromatography media comprising:

• a
• a) impregnating a porous substrate selected from the group consisting of fibers, woven fabrics, non-woven fabrics, membranes, mats, monolithic honeycomb structures, felt sheets, poly(HIPES) monolithic structures, three dimensional structures, sponges, and porous beads, with a room temperature stable aqueous agarose solution, the aqueous agarose solution containing,
• i) water,
• ii) agarose having a concentration in the aqueous solution from about 0.1% to about 20%,
• iii) a gel-inhibiting agent having a concentration in the aqueous solution from about 18 to about 54%, and selected from the group consisting of ZnCl2, LiCl, NaOH, LiNO3, LiOH, LiSCN and mixtures thereof, and
• iv) an anionic fluorosurfactant having a concentration in the aqueous solution from about 0.001% to about 10% by total weight of the aqueous solution;
• b) forming a room temperature stable aqueous agarose coating on the substrate;
• c) evaporating the water from the agarose coating;
• d) exposing the agarose coating to a gelling agent selected from the group consisting of acetone and acetone in water to form a porous polysaccharide hydrogel coated substrate;
• and
• e) exposing the hydrogel coated substrate to a crosslinking agent selected form the group consisting of epichlorohydrin, multifunctional epoxy compounds, multifunctional halide compounds, formaldehyde, gluteraldehyde, multifunctional aldehyde compounds, bis(2-hydroxy ethyl)sulfone, dimethyldichlorosilane, dimethylolurea, dimethylol ethylene urea, diisocyanate compounds, and polyisocyanate compounds to form a porous crosslinked agarose hydrogel coated substrate.