On the formation of porous structure during the synthesis of macroporous copolymers based on glycidyl methacrylate

Abstract

The results obtained during the investigation of the influence of the inert component composition and the type of copolymerization reaction on the porosity parameters of the macroporous copolymer of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGMA) [abbreviated poly(GMA-co-EG-DMA)] are presented. A mixture of cyclohexanol and aliphatic alcohol or non-ionic surfactants with hydrophilic-lipophilic balance values (HLB) of 5 or 9 was used as the inert component. The copolymerization was performed in suspension and in a cast. It was shown that poly(GMA-co-EGDMA) samples with enhanced porosity were obtained in the case of copolymerization in a cast, compared with samples obtained by suspension copolymerization. Also, it was concluded that the inert component solubility parameter cannot be used as the only criterium which determines the formation of the macro porous structure in poly(GMA-co-EGDMA).

Keywords

• macroporous copolymer
• inert component
• solubility parameter