Emulsion templating is a fabrication route in which the dispersed droplets of an emulsion define the voids of a porous solid after the continuous phase is consolidated and the droplets are removed [1]. In the most common variant the continuous phase is a monomer mixture that is polymerised around a high-internal-phase emulsion, giving a porous polymer whose void fraction mirrors the droplet volume fraction [2]. Pore diameter follows droplet size, and interconnecting windows arise where adjacent droplets touch and the film between them ruptures during polymerisation or drying [3]. It is distinguished from porogen leaching by the fluid, deformable character of the template, which allows void fractions above three-quarters without collapse of the framework [1].
- high internal phase emulsion
- macroporous polymer
- droplet templating
- interconnected pore
- void fraction
Polymer Foaming and Composites·Polymers and Plastics·Materials Science·Physical Sciences
References
- Zhang, T.; Sanguramath, R.A.; Israel, S.; Silverstein, M.S.; Emulsion Templating: Porous Polymers and Beyond. Macromolecules 2019, 52, 5445-5479, 10.1021/acs.macromol.8b02576.
- Cameron, N.R.; High internal phase emulsion templating as a route to well-defined porous polymers. Polymer 2005, 46, 1439-1449, 10.1016/j.polymer.2004.11.097.
- Imhof, A.; Pine, D.J.; Ordered macroporous materials by emulsion templating. Nature 1997, 389, 948-951, 10.1038/40105.