Preparation of porous crosslinked polymers with different surface morphologies via chemically induced phase separation

✍ Scribed by Yu-Shun Luo; Kuo-Chung Cheng; Nan-Du Huang; Wen-Pang Chiang; Shun-Fu Li

• Book ID: 105339580
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 982 KB
• Volume: 49
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0887-6266
• DOI: 10.1002/polb.22274

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

A novel and simple method for producing crosslinked polymers with controlled surface morphology is demonstrated in this study. The porous crosslinked polymers were made via stepwise polymerization of a mixture of epoxy resin, D.E.R. 331, and diethylene triamine in diisobutyl ketone (DIBK). Both the surface and bulk morphology of the cured polymers are dependent on the solvent fraction of the reactive solution. When the concentration of DIBK was more than about 30 vol %, chemically induced phase separation (CIPS) occurred during cure at 30 °C, and closed spherical pores, about 4 μm in diameter, appeared in the bulk of the crosslinked polymers, whose diameter increased to about 4.5 and 9 μm when the solvent was increased to 40% and 50%, respectively. The surface morphology of the epoxy networks is different from that of the bulk. Smaller pore size or dense skin was formed via the CIPS process, which can be tailored by covering the reactive solution with different contacting films during cure. The competition between the solvent‐rich and polymer‐rich phase absorbed onto the surface of contacting film could change the surface morphology. Therefore, the porous crosslinked polymers having similar bulk morphology could be prepared with a variety of surface structures. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2011