High internal phase emulsion templating--a path to hierarchically porous functional polymers.

Recently, a series of new monomers and polymerization mechanisms has been applied to the templating of high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) providing a route to hierarchically porous materials with a range of functionalities and applications. The high degree of control over the pore size is another attractive feature of these materials. Usually, the continuous phase contains monomers, the droplet phase is used to template the large, primary pores, which are interconnected by secondary pores. The addition of nonpolymerizable components to the continuous phase can result in phase separation during polymerization and tertiary pores. Applications include polymer supports for catalysis and synthesis, separation and filtration, cell culture media, enzyme supports, and structural and isolation applications.