Tailoring the morphology of emulsion-based (glycidylmethacrylate-divinylbenzene) monoliths

Poly(glycidylmethacrylate-divinylbenzene) monoliths [poly(GMA-DVB)] were prepared in the presence of a porogen using a high internal phase emulsion (HIPE) template. Tripolyglycerol monostearate was used as a surfactant to effectively inhibit Ostwald ripening and coalescence, and stable HIPE containing GMA was obtained. Epoxy groups of poly(GMA-DVB) were verified by FT-IR and solid-state C-13 NMR spectroscopy. The effects of surfactant amount, cross-linking degree, water fraction, and porogen amount on the surface area, average void diameter, range of void diameter, average interconnection diameter, and average pore diameter of poly(GMA-DVB) were investigated. The morphology of poly(GMA-DVB) may be tailored by tuning each of the factors described above according to the requirements of specific applications. Finally, poly(GMA-DVB) were further functionalized by diethylamine via the ring-opening reaction of epoxy groups. The results showed that most epoxy groups of poly(GMA-DVB) could react with diethylamine. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.