Macroporous Monolithic Polymers: Preparation and Applications

Abstract

In the last years, macroporous monolithic materials have been introduced as a new and useful generation of polymers used in different fields. These polymers may be prepared in a simple way from a homogenous mixture into a mold and contain large interconnected pores or channels allowing for high flow rates at moderate pressures. Due to their porous characteristics, they could be used in different processes, such as stationary phases for different types of chromatography, high-throughput bioreactors and in microfluidic chip applications. This review reports the contributions of several groups working in the preparation of different macroporous monoliths and their modification by immobilization of specific ligands on the products for specific purposes.

Structural Characterization of Porous Materials Using SAS

“…Macroporous size and skeleton thickness can be independently controlled by changing the composition of the precursor mixtures. The main morphological feature of polymer monoliths is the presence of large pores, which permits their use in liquid chromatography at high flow rates and low backpressures [70,71].…”

A highly selective fluorescent chemosensor for Hg2+ based on a squaraine–bis(rhodamine-B) derivative: Part II

“…Effect of the PEGDMA polymer on SRB with Hg 2+ as a fluorescent-labeled additive Precipitation polymerization was used to prepare the PEGDMA-SRB polymer according to a previously reported procedure [96][97][98]. For the polymer particles to exhibit a chemosensing response, fluorescent-labeled additives are necessary.…”

Macroporous monolithic supports for affinity chromatography

“…An important advantage of the organic‐based monoliths involves the fact that a wide variety of monomers can be employed to fabricate the final monolith. As outstanding, it may be mentioned that various monolithic columns presenting different chemistry have been prepared including AAm‐based 31, 32, methacrylate‐based 33–35 and styrene‐based polymers 36. The existence of certain functional groups on the surface of organic‐based monolithic polymers depends on the class of monomer/s used for the preparation.…”

“…Sometimes, its immobilization must be carried out through a functional group not provided by the monomers used but performed through chemical modification reactions on the surface of the material 37 or through grafting reactions 38, which can increase considerably the number of active sites of the support. However, the use of monomers with reactive functional groups such as glycidylmethacrylate (GMA) or chloromethylstyrene (CMS) is optimal since the functional groups can be employed directly without chemical modification.…”