Porous, polymer beads and process of their preparation
AssigneeThe Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
InventorsNai-Hong Li, Kam W. Leong
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Abstract
Porous, polymer particles comprising a functionalized cross-linked copolymer having microporous regions and macroporous regions in the polymer matrix thereof, wherein the functional groups are essentially present only within the macroporous regions, as well as processes for preparing these particles based on a template polymerization technique followed by removal of the template polymer from the particles are disclosed. The particles of the invention are useful in chromatography, and in various analytical, diagnostic techniques and solid state peptide, DNA synthesis.
Claims18
A method of preparing porous, functionalized polymer particles which comprises a cross-linked copolymer having microporous regions and macroporous regions in the polymer matrix thereof, wherein the functional groups are essentially present only within the macroporous regions, comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a polymerizable mixture containing a functional monomer, a cross-linker and a template polymer in an aqueous medium to form a suspension, the template polymer being capable of forming an ionic or covalent bond with the functional monomer;
- (b) copolymerizing the monomer and the cross-linker with or without a polymerization catalyst in the suspension to form a cross-linked copolymer;
- (c) removing the aqueous medium and the template polymer from the copolymer to recover porous, functionalized polymer particles, the particles having microporous regions and macroporous regions in the polymer matrix thereof, wherein the functional groups are essentially present only within the macroporous regions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.