Evaporation kinetics in swollen porous polymeric networks

E.V. SILLETTA; M.I. VELASCO; C.G. GOMEZ; R. H. ACOSTA; M. C. STRUMIA; G.A. MONTI

LANGMUIR

AMER CHEMICAL SOC

Lugar: Washington; Año: 2014 vol. 30 p. 4129 - 4136

0743-7463

NMR is a fast, non-destructive and non-invasive technique that can provide information of the pore structure of macroporous polymer beads and the dynamics of liquids confined in them. In this work we describe the study of the pore structure of macroporous polymer of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate [poly(EGDMA-co- HEMA)] in the dry but also in the swollen state by measuring relaxation times of liquids contained in the polymer network. The results show that the pore architecture differs from the dry to the soaked state. The behavior of polar liquids during evaporation and deswelling dynamics is monitored and described. An internal migration of water from the swollen polymer mesh into expanding pores takes place. With this procedure it is possible to obtain information about the microscopic morphology behavior of the matrix during evaporation and deswelling. This information is of great interest in the aspect of the possible and future applications for these types of materials.