Polymeric Membranes from Colloidal Templates with Tunable Morphology

N. CASIS, S. RAVAINE, S. RECULUSA, V. L. COLVIN, M. R. WIESNER, D. A. ESTENOZ, M. M. FIDALGO DE CORTALEZZI

MACROMOLECULAR REACTION ENGINEERING

WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH

Año: 2010 vol. 4 p. 445 - 452

1862-832X

Abstract Polymeric porous membranes were fabricated from templates made from silica particles. The templates were obtained by self-assembly and by the Langmuir-Blodgett (L-B) technique. For the self-assembly technique, suspensions of silica particles in ethanol were used to create the deposits. L-B deposition was employed to produce templates of different particle sizes for the fabrication of asymmetric membranes. Two different polymers were tested to fabricate membranes: polystyrene (PS) and the diethyleneglycol dimethacrylate (DEGDMA)/urethane dimethacrylate (UDMA) copolymer. Templates and porous films were observed by SEM in order to analyze the pore morphology. Permeability of the poly(DEGDMA/UDMA) films was comparable to commercially available membranes. Proposed applications for these ordered porous structures include, sensors, filters, and catalytic materials.