Acrylamide Solutions and Powders

Acrylamide solutions and powders are used to generate polyacrylamide, a chemically inert, electrically neutral, and hydrophilic gel matrix used for separating biomolecules by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). The reliability of electrophoresis results depends on the reproducibility of this reaction, which is dependent on several factors.

The polymerization process requires bis-acrylamide as a cross-linking agent. Adjusting the concentration and ratio of acrylamide and bis-acrylamide creates gel matrices with a range of pore sizes that allow the electrophoretic separation of nucleic acids, peptides, and proteins — molecules ranging in molecular weight from 2 to 5,000 Da.

The purity of acrylamide reagents used in the polymerization process determines the uniformity of the gel matrix. Bio-Rad offers a range of 99.9% pure reagents to suit your DNA sequencing (6, 8, 12, 20% acrylamide), and/or peptide and protein electrophoresis applications. Our choices of pure acrylamide and/or bis-acrylamide premixed solutions or powders include:

• Acrylamide, bis-acrylamide, and premixed acrylamide/bis-acrylamide solutions — for preparing gels using stock solutions with the most common cross-link ratios
• Premixed acrylamide/bis-acrylamide powders — for preparing stock solutions by diluting with water directly in the bottle
• Acrylamide powders — for adjusting the concentration and acrylamide:bis-acrylamide ratio

Convenient ordering options are available to meet your acrylamide handcasting gel demands. Bio-Rad’s stock solutions and powders can be used to prepare

• Single-percentage gels (7.5–20%) — for separating bands that are close in molecular weight
• Gradient gels (4–15% and 10–20%) — for separating samples containing a broad range of molecular weights
• Broad gradient gels (4–20% and 8–16%) — for evaluating new or unknown samples

More Information

Our accessories and reagents for handcasting multiple gels include polyacrylamide gel reagents, premade buffers and reagents, multicasting chambers for mini, midi, large gels, and gradient formers.

View our wide selection of mini and midi precast gels, electrophoresis equipment available in mini and midi formats, and protein standards for your specific protein separation applications.

Learn more about casting polyacrylamide gels, protein electrophoresis techniques, and types of protein electrophoresis (PAGE).