Polymeric cryogels as a new family of macroporous and supermacroporous materials for biotechnological purposes

The review is devoted to a specific kind of polymeric gels formed as a result of non-deep freezing of solutions or colloidal sols of the corresponding precursors. These materials are termed as cryogels. They possess a series of unique properties, first of all, the specific character of porosity (macroporous cryogels with the pore cross-section from tenth fractions of μm to ∼10 μm and supermacroporous (gigaporous) cryogels with pores of tens and hundreds of μm) and are attractive from the viewpoint of biotechnological implementation. Approaches to the preparation of the so-called “smart” composites based on the cryogels are considered. The use of various cryogels as carriers of immobilized biocatalysts (enzymes, cells), matrices for wide-porous affinity sorbents and immunosorbents, and spongy scaffolds for 3D culturing of animal cells is discussed. Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 5, pp. 996–1013, May, 2008.