Preparation and characterization of three-dimensionally ordered macroporous polystyrene via atom-transfer radical polymerization

Three-dimensionally ordered macroporous polystyrene (3DOM PS) with pore size of 350 nm was fabricated using Cp₂Co/ Ethyl 2-bromoisobutyrate (EBiB) catalytic system by ATRP. The resulting polymers were detected by FT-IR, ¹H-NMR, SEM, and GPC. The microstructure of 3DOM PS was confirmed by FT-IR and ¹H-NMR. SEM micrographs show that both silica spheres within the templates and pores in the 3DOM polystyrene are arranged in highly ordered fashion, and the shrinkage of the pores in the 3DOM PS is 24%. GPC curves show that the 3DOM PS possesses slightly lower M _n and narrow MWD compared with bulk one. This result indicats that living polymerization is different from non-living polymerizationin in the confined space. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50273009); Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province (Grant No. E2007000052), Science Research Plan of Department of Education, Hebei Province (Grant No. 2007307), and Doctor Open Foundation of Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Material of Ministry of Education, Nankai University) (Grant No. 2006-007)