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Macroporous Polymers with Hierarchical Pore Structure from Emulsion Templates Stabilised by Both Particles and Surfactants
Author(s) -
Wong Ling L. Ching,
Ikem Vivian O.,
Menner Angelika,
Bismarck Alexander
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/marc.201100382
Subject(s) - materials science , polymer , emulsion , porosity , toughness , pulmonary surfactant , template , emulsion polymerization , composite material , chemical engineering , polymerization , particle (ecology) , mechanical strength , phase (matter) , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , chemistry , oceanography , geology , engineering
Inspired by natural porous materials, such as wood, bamboo and spongy bone consisting of individual structural units that are hierarchically arranged to optimise mechanical properties such as strength and toughness, synthetic macroporous polymers with enhanced physical properties were created by emulsion templating. Hierarchical poly(merised) high internal phase emulsions (HIPE) were created from HIPEs stabilised simultaneously by particles and a surfactant. In these HIPEs, surfactant stabilised and particle stabilised water droplets coexist, which upon polymerisation of the minority oil phase gives rise to macroporous polymers with a hierarchical pore structure. An improvement of the mechanical properties of our hierarchically structured macroporous polymers at equal porosity was observed, due to a more efficient packing of pores in a configuration that improves mechanical strength despite the presence of interconnecting pore throats. Moreover, the permeability of the hierarchically structured polyHIPEs are exceeding those measured for conventional polyHIPEs made from surfactant only stabilised HIPEs.