Mesoporous crosslinked polymers tailored from (semi-)IPNs: Scope and limitations

PMSE 68

Daniel Grande, grande@glvt-cnrs.fr and Géraldine Rohman, geraldine.rohman@durham.ac.uk. Equipe "Systèmes Polymères Complexes", Institut de Chimie et des Matériaux Paris-Est, CNRS-Université Paris XII, 2, rue Henri Dunant, 94320 Thiais, France
This contribution discusses the scope and limitations of two complementary routes to mesoporous networks, and focuses on the investigation of the correlations between the multiscale structure of the precursors and the morphology of the resulting porous materials. Miscellaneous polyester/PMMA-based (semi-)Interpenetrating Polymer Networks (IPNs) with varying structural parameters (cross-linker nature and cross-link density associated with the PMMA sub-network, as well as nature and molar mass of the oligoester precursor) are considered as nanostructured precursors. The first approach applying the extraction of un-crosslinked oligoesters from semi-IPNs constitute a straightforward and effective methodology, provided the extent of miscibility between both partners is high, i.e. when using a low molar mass poly(D,L-lactide) oligomer and the lowest dimethacrylate content. Alternately, the second strategy implying the partial hydrolysis of semi-hydrolyzable IPNs offers more versatility, since mesoporous polymers can be obtained with a large range of dimethacrylate contents, regardless of their nature and the oligoester nature.