Macroporous Polymers with Aligned Microporous Walls from Pickering High Internal Phase Emulsions

Abstract

A novel class of macroporous polymers, open macroporous polymers with aligned microporous void walls, were prepared by combining particle-stabilized high internal phase emulsion (Pickering HIPE) and unidirectional freezing technique. These Pickering HIPEs were prepared by utilizing poly(urethane urea)/(vinyl ester resin) nanoparticles as the sole stabilizer, and this nanoparticles also acted as building blocks for the resulting macroporous polymers. Moreover, the morphology and compression modulus of the resulting porous materials could be tuned easily. This means now Pickering-HIPE templated open-cell foams can be prepared, and this route was normally achieved with surfactant and/or chemical reaction involved.

Preparation of emulsion‐templated fluorinated polymers and their application in oil/water separation

“…Especially on water/oil separation due to their tunable hydrophobic–oleophilic or hydrophilic–oleophobic properties . In this method, high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs), having an internal phase volume fraction of more than 74%, were normally used as templates to prepare porous polymer materials (so called polyHIPEs) . There are usually two steps to obtain the polyHIPEs from HIPEs.…”

The Chemistry of Porous Polymers: The Holey Grail

“…These BCPs can be used to tune the surface chemistry by designing a specific block that would spontaneously migrate to the oil‐water interface . Most recently, surfactants with polymerizable groups were covalently anchored to the polymer wall surface, and in some syntheses, the polymerizable surfactant was the only monomer . Pickering HIPEs, HIPEs stabilized using either inorganic or polymeric amphiphilic nanoparticles (NPs), have also been developed.…”

“…[72][73][74][75] Most recently, surfactants with polymerizable groups were covalently anchored to the polymer wall surface, and in some syntheses, the polymerizable surfactant was the only monomer. [76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84] Pickering HIPEs, HIPEs stabilized using either inorganic or polymeric amphiphilic nanoparticles (NPs), have also been developed. One advantage of Pickering HIPEs Figure 3.…”

Pickering emulsion-templated polymers: insights into the relationship between surfactant and interconnecting pores

“…There have been many nanoparticles reported for the stabilisation of HIPE, such as modied titania particles, 31,32 silica particles, 33 MOFs, [34][35][36] and copolymer particles. [37][38][39][40][41][42][43] In addition, the use of particles as stabilizers endows the resulting porous materials with a number of benets. First, the particles used as stabilizers in Pickering HIPEs are irreversibly adsorbed at the water-oil interface because of their high energy of attachment, which makes the emulsion extremely stable.…”