Macromolecular Rapid Communications, Vol.36, No.9, 834-839, 2015
Preparation of Hybrid Thiol-Acrylate Emulsion-Templated Porous Polymers by Interfacial Copolymerization of High Internal Phase Emulsions
Emulsion-templated highly porous polymers (polyHIPEs), containing distinct regions differing in composition, morphology, and/or properties, are prepared by the simultaneous polymerization of two high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) contained within the same mould. The HIPEs are placed together in the mould and subjected to thiol-acrylate photopolymerization. The resulting polyHIPE material is found to contain two distinct semicircular regions, reflecting the composition of each HIPE. The original interface between the two emulsions becomes a copolymerized band between 100 and 300 mu m wide, which is found to be mechanically robust. The separate polyHIPE layers are distinguished from one another by their differing average void diameter, chemical composition, and extent of contraction upon drying.