Abstract

1,6-hexanediol diacrylate (HDDA) or divinyl adipate (DVA) and pentaerythritol tetrakis(3-mercaptopropionate) (TT) were polymerised via a thiol-ene radical initiated photopolymerisation using emulsions with a high volume fraction of internal droplet phase and monomers in the continuous phase as precursors. The porous structure derived from the high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) followed the precursor emulsion setup resulting in an open porous cellularly structured polymer. Changing the emulsion composition and polymerisation conditions influenced the resulting morphological structure significantly. The investigated factors influencing the polymer monolith morphology were the emulsion phase ratio and surfactant concentration, leading to either interconnected cellular type morphology, bicontinuous porous morphology or a hollow sphere inverted structure of the polymerised monoliths. The samples with interconnected cellular morphology had pore diameters between 4 µm and 10 µm with approx. 1 µm sized interconnecting channels while samples with bicontinuous morphology featured approx. 5 µm wide pores between the polymer domains. The appropriate choice of emulsion composition enabled the preparation of highly porous poly(thiol-enes) with either polyHIPE or bicontinuous morphology. The porosities of the prepared samples followed the emulsion droplet phase share and could reach up to 88%.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.