Room temperature stable agarose solutions

1. A method for making porous crosslinked polysaccharide 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 polysaccharide solution forming a room temperature stable aqueous polysaccharide coating on the substrate, the aqueous solution containing,

i) water,

ii) a polysaccharide having a concentration in the aqueous solution from about 0.1% to about 20%, and selected from the group consisting of agarose, dextrans, cyclodextrins and blends thereof,

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 ZnCl 2 , LiCl, NaOH, LiNO 3 , 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) evaporating the water from the polysaccharide coating;

c) exposing the dehydrated polysaccharide 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

d) exposing the hydrogel coated substrate to a crosslinking agent selected from 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 polysaccharide hydrogel coated substrate.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising step f) rinsing the crosslinked polysaccharide hydrogel coated substrate with water.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the polysaccharide is agarose.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the polysaccharide is dextran.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the porous beads are selected from the group consisting of porous glass beads, porous styrene beads, porous silica beads, and porous zirconia beads.

6. 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 ZnCl 2 , LiCl, NaOH, LiNO 3 , 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.

7. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising step f) rinsing the crosslinked agarose hydrogel coated substrate with water.

8. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising an anionic fluorosurfactant having a concentration in the aqueous solution from about 0.001% to about 10% by total weight of the aqueous solution.

9. 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 ZnCl 2 , LiCl, NaOH, LiNO 3 , 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.