Poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) Monoliths by Spinodal Decomposition for Hydrodynamic Chromatography

Abstract

Porous materials with low tortuosities are needed when efficient liquid transport through a substrate is required. Thus, the development of materials with homogeneous interconnected pores can improve the performance of porous supports for flow-through applications. In this paper, the synthesis of a poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) monolith by spinodal decomposition is reported. The obtainment of experimental conditions for phase separation by spinodal decomposition was achieved by using a reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization mechanism for the synthesis of porous monoliths. Moreover, the chemical nature and composition of the porogen mixture were found to be key factors in the porous structure of the resulting materials. Mixtures of poly(tert-butyl methacrylate) and dioxane were used as porogens for the obtainment of monoliths by spinodal decomposition, and the composition of the porogen mixture allowed control over their pore size. The obtained methacrylate monoliths were used as stationary phases for hydrodynamic chromatography and allowed size-based separations of high-molar-mass polymer standards.