Acrylate- and methacrylate-based monoliths

The main feature of (meth)acrylate-based support materials is the broad diversity of monomers that is commercially available and that can thus can be used for the fabrication of monoliths. The resulting (meth)acrylate monoliths consequently cover a wide spectrum of surface chemistries and properties. The scope of monomers includes hydrophobic, hydrophilic, ionizable, chiral, as well as reactive (meth)acrylate building blocks [53]—the most popular being mixtures of butyl methacrylate and ethylene dimethacrylate (BMA/EDMA) or glycidyl methacrylate and ethylene dimethacrylate (GMA/EDMA) as cross-linker. 

The former polymer system represents a reversed-phase material, providing C4-alkylchains, which has most frequently been employed for protein separation [53], whereas the latter carries reactive moieties that can easily be converted in order to yield the desired surface functionalities. 

Summary of Organic Monolithic Polymer Systems That Have Been Introduced in Literature Listed Together with Their Mode of Polymerization, Porogenic Solvent, and Their Key Application in HPLC and CEC Separation 

Monomers Initiator Porogens Styrene Supports Application References 

S/DVB Thermal, AIBN 1-Dodecanol 8 mm I.D., protein separation, separation of synthetic polymers [24,134] 

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