Open Access

ARTICLE

Fabrication of Microspherical Catalyst with Hierarchical Porous Structure from Functional Monomers via Low-Temperature Phase-Separation Photopolymerization

KEMIN WANG, LIFEI HE

1 Biomedical Science and Technology Research Center, School of Mechatronic Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, PR China
2 School of Materials Science and Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou, 213164, PR China

* Corresponding Author: e-mail:

Journal of Polymer Materials 2019, 36(3), 253-260. https://doi.org/10.32381/JPM.2019.36.03.5

Abstract

This study proposes a simple approach for the fabrication of microspherical catalysts with a hierarchical porous structure. The cross-linked porous microspheres with catalytic ability were prepared directly from small-molecular monomers via low-temperature phase-separation photopolymerization of water/oil suspension. The morphology, pore size, chemical structure, and thermal stability of the obtained porous microspheres were characterized by SEM, Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry, FTIR, and TGA. The porous microspheres directly served as an acid catalyst for the condensation reaction of benzaldehyde and ethylene glycol, which exhibited superior catalytic activity and recyclability. The results indicated that such porous microspheres have great potential in the application of acid catalysis.

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Keywords

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