POROUS POLYMERIC MATERIALS FROM CATIONIC MICROEMULSIONS

A polymerizable cationic surfactant of acryloyloxyundecyl trimethylammonium bromide was synthesized and polymerized with methyl methacrylate and a crosslinker, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, in microemulsions. Transparent porous materials were obtained by photoinitiated polymerization of a series of the bicontinuous microemulsions. Scanning electron micrographs of the polymerized samples show that porous microstructure polymers ranging from 0.10 to 0.20 mu m were formed from precursor microemulsions containing 15 to 40% water. The microstructure is believed to be an open cell type as revealed from the drying rate curves by thermogravemetric analysis.