ORGANIC MICROPOROUS MATERIALS MADE BY BICONTINUOUS MICROEMULSION POLYMERIZATION

Microporous solids made by polymerizing the organic phase of bicontinuous microemulsions stabilized with didodecyldimethylammonium bromide show surface areas as high as 70 m(2)/g. Small-angle X-ray scattering measurements on microporous copolymers containing polymethylmethacrylate show that these areas result from structures larger than 250 Angstrom that are generated during polymerisation. These X-rays measurements also show that the 17-Angstrom structures characteristics of the original microemulsion are retained during polymerization, but destroyed when the detergent is extracted and the solid is dried.