title: Macroporous Polymers with Hierarchical Pore Structure from Emulsion Templates Stabilised by Both Particles and Surfactants.
abstract: Inspired by natural porous materials, such as wood, bamboo and spongy bone consisting of individual structural units that are hierarchically arranged to optimise mechanical properties such as strength and toughness, synthetic macroporous polymers with enhanced physical properties were created by emulsion templating. Hierarchical poly(merised) high internal phase emulsions (HIPE) were created from HIPEs stabilised simultaneously by particles and a surfactant. In these HIPEs, surfactant stabilised and particle stabilised water droplets coexist, which upon polymerisation of the minority oil phase gives rise to macroporous polymers with a hierarchical pore structure. An improvement of the mechanical properties of our hierarchically structured macroporous polymers at equal porosity was observed, due to a more efficient packing of pores in a configuration that improves mechanical strength despite the presence of interconnecting pore throats. Moreover, the permeability of the hierarchically structured polyHIPEs are exceeding those measured for conventional polyHIPEs made from surfactant only stabilised HIPEs.
authors.affiliation: Imperial College London, Polymer & Composite Engineering (PaCE) Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Ling L Ching
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Imperial College London, Polymer & Composite Engineering (PaCE) Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Vivian O
authors.initials: VO
authors.lastname: Ikem
authors.affiliation: Imperial College London, Polymer & Composite Engineering (PaCE) Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Angelika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Menner
authors.affiliation: Imperial College London, Polymer & Composite Engineering (PaCE) Group, Department of Chemical Engineering, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK. a.bismarck@imperial.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bismarck
mesh_terms: D004655:Emulsions; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010316:Particle Size; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D016062:Porosity; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004655:Emulsions; D011108:Polymers; D013501:Surface-Active Agents