A Novel Route to Three-Dimensionally Ordered Macroporous Polymers by Electron Irradiation of Polymer Colloids

摘要

The synthesis of macroporous polymer structures has been a subject of intensive research because such polymer networks are useful in a variety of applications, including biological membranes, catalysts, photonic bandgap materials, and scaffolds for nanostructures. Macroporous polymers with regularly ordered structures can be fabricated using templates, by following a sequence of processes: 1) the synthesis of templates, 2) the infilling and polymerization of monomers in void spaces of the templates, and 3) the subsequent dissolution of the template frame work. A non-template alternative based on the self assembly of block copolymers is also very effective for the preparation of macroporous polymers, particularly for the formation of thin films. Minor polymeric components in the copolymer can be selectively removed by several techniques and consequently pores are formed in the copolymers. Here, we present a novel route for synthesizing ordered macroporous polymers, which is based on the electron irradiation of colloidal poly(methyl methacry-late) (PMMA) crystals. Simply irradiating an electron beam to the colloidal crystals produces regularly ordered macroporous polymers, and no post-treatment is required for the formation of porous polymers. This novel route promises a straightforward means to fabricate arbitrarily shaped two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) macroporous polymer structures of tunable pore sizes.