A super hydrophilic silsesquioxane-based composite for highly selective adsorption of glycoproteins

The authors have prepared a super-hydrophilic polymer consisting of a poly-polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)-formaldehyde (PPF) composite. The polymerization process does not require a catalyst and results in a material with excellent hydrophilic properties and abundant functional groups. The PFF composite, even if not chemically modified, can selectively bind glycoproteins due to strong hydrophilic interactions. It is shown that glycoproteins can be selectively captured by the composite that has a binding capacity as large as 542 mg g(-1) for the model protein ovalbumin. The PPF was applied to the selective capture and isolation of ovalbumin from complex biological samples.