Three-dimensional porous catalytic polymer materials (PCPMs) have enormous potential for the field of reactive separations. Controlled pore sizes, porosity, and selective catalyst material deposition in PPMs have shown to be essential characteristics in the field.¹ Our work is concerned with the fabrication of three-dimensionally periodic PPMs that have well-defined sections with different pore sizes and different catalyst materials using colloidal templating.

Catalyst coated colloids (CCCs) of different sizes are convectively assembled inside capillaries. A liquid polymer is used to fill the interstitial spaces formed by the colloidal assembly. Subsequently, the polymer is cured to form a solid CCC-polymer matrix. An inverse opal structure forms upon dissolution of the colloids from the matrix, leaving behind a catalyst embedded multi-sectioned PCPM. We have assembled 0.5, 2.4, and 9.6 µm sized sulfate-polystyrene (PS) colloids in 50 µm inner-diameter polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) capillaries with various sequences. The hexagonally close-packed crystals formed have been infiltrated by a UV curable prepolymer, which has been cured subsequently under a long-wave UV light (365 nm). Treatment of the cured CCC-polymer matrix with organic solvents leads to porous catalytic polymeric materials with a controlled catalytic material and pore size distribution.

We have investigated the structure of the colloidal assemblies and the resulting PCPMs using scanning electron microscopy and EDAX elemental analysis. Further, knowledge of properties and characteristics of these PPMs are critical in practical applications, therefore, a preliminary tensile strength analysis will be also presented.

(1) Ulbricht, M.; Advanced functional polymer membranes. Polymer 2006, 47, (7), 2217-2262.