Mesoporous water adsorbent material from poly high internal phase emulsion for agriculture application

Mesoporous water adsorbent materials were prepared by high internal phase emulsion (HIPE) technique: a technique which used aqueous phase (water phase) as a temporary template (in the form of droplets) and oil phase (polymer phase) as a continuous structure. This research describes the preparation of porous poly[S/ethylene glycol dimethylacrylate (EGDMA)]HIPE from styrene crosslinked with EGDMA. Effects of chemical composition on the pores of the mesoporous adsorbents were investigated. The EGDMA concentration was varied between 0 and 40% of oil phase by total volume to give polyHIPE with various amounts of hydroxyl groups. Effects of oil: aqueous phase ratio on mesoporous adsorbent polyHIPEs resulted in interconnected pores in their morphology. The EGDMA concentration also affected the obtained polyHIPE morphology. The water adsorption of poly(S/EGDMA)HIPE gave high water adsorption, up to 350% of dry weight. The obtained polyHIPE with large average pore size were also found to give high water adsorption capacity. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134 , 45509.