Polymers having ordered, monodisperse pores and their corresponding ordered, monodisperse colloids
AssigneeWilliam Marsh Rice University
InventorsPeng Jiang, Vicki L. Colvin
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Abstract
Ordered, monodisperse macroporous polymers, their corresponding ordered, monodisperse colloids, and methods of preparing them are disclosed. The methods use an ordered, monodisperse colloidal template to define the polymer pore morphology, which in turn acts as a mold for the growth of a new ordered, monodisperse colloid. The macroporous polymer may be prepared with either spherical or ellipsoidal pores from a wide variety of polymeric systems. The new ordered, monodisperse colloid may be grown from a wide variety of materials including ceramics, semiconductors, metals and polymers. These materials are potentially useful in optical, micro-filtering and drug delivery applications.
Claims22
A method for preparing a second-generation colloid comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a colloidal template;
- (b) infiltrating said colloidal template with polymerizable components;
- (c) polymerizing said polymerizable components;
- (d) selectively removing said colloidal template to yield a porous polymer;
- (e) heating said porous polymer above its glass transition temperature;
- (f) deforming said porous polymer such that said porous polymer includes non-spherical pores;
- (g) cooling said porous polymer below its glass transition temperature;
- (h) depositing a material into the non-spherical pores of said porous polymer so as to form said material into ellipsoidal particles having an aspect ratio between 1.47 and 5.0;
- and
- (i) selectively removing said porous polymer to form a second-generation colloid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.