title: Pore Structure of Macroporous Polymers Using Polystyrene/Silica Composite Particles as Pickering Stabilizers.
abstract: A novel approach for the preparation of interconnected macroporous polymers with a controllable pore structure was reported. The method was based on the polymerization of water-in-oil Pickering high internal phase emulsion (HIPE) stabilized by polystyrene (PS)/silica composite particles. The composite Pickering stabilizers were facilely obtained by mixing positively charged PS microspheres and negatively charged silica nanoparticles, and their amphiphilicity could be delicately tailored by varying the ratio of PS and silica. The droplet size of Pickering HIPEs was characterized using an optical microscope. The pore structure of polymer foams was observed using a scanning electron microscope. The interconnectivity of macroporous polymers was evaluated upon their gas permeability, which was greatly improved after etching PS microspheres included in the Pickering stabilizers with tetrahydrofuran. As a result, fine tailoring of the pore structure of polymer foams could be realized by simply tuning the ratio of PS to silica particles in the composite stabilizer.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Collaborative Innovation Center of Polymers and Polymer Composite Materials, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University , Shanghai 200433, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Shuhua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Collaborative Innovation Center of Polymers and Polymer Composite Materials, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University , Shanghai 200433, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Chenxu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Collaborative Innovation Center of Polymers and Polymer Composite Materials, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University , Shanghai 200433, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Lingyun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Collaborative Innovation Center of Polymers and Polymer Composite Materials, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University , Shanghai 200433, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Haitao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Collaborative Innovation Center of Polymers and Polymer Composite Materials, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University , Shanghai 200433, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Qiangguo
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Du