Perfluoroalkyl-Functionalized Hyperbranched Polyglycerol as Pore Forming Agents and Supramolecular Hosts in Polymer Microspheres.
Perfluoroalkyl-functionalized, hyperbranched polyglycerols that produce stable microbubbles are integrated into a microfluidic emulsion to create porous microspheres. In a previously-presented work a dendrimer with a perfluorinated shell was used. By replacing this dendrimer core with a hyperbranched core and evaluating different core sizes and degrees of fluorinated shell functionalization, we optimized the process to a more convenient synthesis and higher porosities. The new hyperbranched polyglycerol porogens produced more pores and can be used to prepare microspheres with porosity up to 12% (v/v). The presented preparation forms pores with a perfluoroalkyl-functionalized surface that enables the resulting microspheres to act as supramolecular host systems. The microspheres can incorporate gases into the pores and actives in the polymer matrix, while the perfluoroalkylated pore surface can be used to immobilize perfluoro-tagged molecules onto the pores by fluorous-fluorous interaction.
Institute for Chemistry and Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustrasse 3, Berlin 14195, Germany. olaf.wagner@fu-berlin.de.
Olaf
O
Wagner
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, 29 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. mzieringer@hotmail.com.
Maximilian
M
Zieringer
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, 29 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. wynter.duncanson@nu.edu.kz.
Wynter J
WJ
Duncanson
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, 29 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. weitz@seas.harvard.edu.|Department of Physics, Harvard University, 29 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. weitz@seas.harvard.edu.
David A
DA
Weitz
Institute for Chemistry and Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustrasse 3, Berlin 14195, Germany. haag@chemie.fu-berlin.de.
Rainer
R
Haag
D005990:Glycerol / Q000737:chemistry*; D008863:Microspheres; D015394:Molecular Structure; D010316:Particle Size; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D016062:Porosity
D011108:Polymers; C043941:polyglycerol; D005990:Glycerol
fluorous; functional; host-guest system; microbubbles; microfluidics; non-covalent; polyglycerol; porous; supramolecular; template