Polymer, defined porous

Heterogeneous and spatially defined layers and microstructures can also be prepared, e.g., bilayers from two different polymers, or multilayers by using layer by layer deposition of different constituents, deposition of polymers in porous template. 

Supercritical pSFC applications can be defined as those in which the mobile phase is a single substance heated and pressurized above its critical point. Carbon dioxide has overwhelmingly been the compound of choice for these mobile phases. Stationary phases typically used for these applications have been polymeric materials or polymer-coated porous silica. Chromatography on uncoated silica-based stationary phases with CO2 has, in general, been unsuccessful. 

Finally, w/c and c/w PFPE based emulsions have been used for the synthesis of porous materials, which are the skeletal replica of the emulsions after removal of the internal phase. W/c microemulsions allowed for macroporous polyacrylate monoliths to be produced (80-82). Conversely, c/w emulsions may be used for the preparation of well-defined porous hydrophilic polymers (83). 

Polymers are used for mobility control in chemical flooding processes such as micellar-polymer and caustic-polymer flooding and in polymer augmented waterflooding. Selection of a polymer for mobility control is a complex process because it is not possible to predict the behavior of a polymer in porous rock from rheological measurements such as viscosity/ shear rate curves. Polymers used for mobility control are non-Newtonian fluids. Flow characteristics are controlled by the shear field to which the polymer is subjected. Properties of polymers can be measured under steady shear in rheometers. However, in porous rock, it is difficult to define the shear environment a polymer experiences as it flows through tortuous pores. 

Porous silica supports such as MCM-41 have also been employed in the development of artificial hybrid pores due to their well-defined porous network and then-facile functionalization chemistry. For instance, Lopez and coworkers employed an MCM-41 support coated uniformly with a temperature-responsive poly(AI-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAAm) polymer. At low temperatures, the polymer was hydrated and extended and the pores were closed no transport of fluorescein was observed when flow cytometry and confocal laser scanning microscopy were employed. In contrast, at high temperatures the polymer was hydrophobic and collapsed, allowing the transport of the dye (Figure 24). This system thus not only acts as a temperature sensor but also shows clear features of control as will become more important in the next section. 

Cameron, N.R., 2005. High internal phase emulsion templating as a route to well-defined porous polymers. Polymer 46,1439-1449. 

They studied solutions of polyethylene oxide (a flexible coil, water-soluble polymer similar physically to HPAM) flowing through porous beds of different grain sizes and reported the onset of elastic behaviour at maximum stretch rate to be of the order 100 s and shear rates of the order 1000 s" More recently, Durst and Haas have made an extensive study of the flow of viscoelastic polymers in porous media (Durst et al, 1981, 1982. Haas et al, 1981a, b). They characterised the onset of high resistances by using a product of a resistance factor / and the Reynolds number Re, defined as ... 

Research with respect to the adsorption of polymer in pores is still in its infancy despite the technological importance. In particular, studies of self-exchange and exchange, as a function of molar mass, could contribute much to an insight into adsorption mechanisms. Well-defined porous systems and highly monodisperse polymers are required for a successful approach. 

Polymer-based, synthetic ion-exchangers known as resins are available commercially in gel type or truly porous forms. Gel-type resins are not porous in the usual sense of the word, since their structure depends upon swelhng in the solvent in which they are immersed. Removal of the solvent usually results in a collapse of the three-dimensional structure, and no significant surface area or pore diameter can be defined by the ordinaiy techniques available for truly porous materials. In their swollen state, gel-type resins approximate a true molecular-scale solution. Thus, we can identify an internal porosity p only in terms of the equilibrium uptake of water or other liquid. When crosslinked polymers are used as the support matrix, the internal porosity so defined varies in inverse proportion to the degree of crosslinkiug, with swelhng and therefore porosity typically being more... 

When a dilute solution of a polymer (c << c ) is equilibrated with a porous medium, some polymer chains are partitioned to the pore channels. The partition coefficient K, defined as the ratio of the polymer concentration in the pore to the one in the exterior solution, decreases with increasing MW of the polymer (7). This size exclusion principle has been used successfully in SEC to characterize the MW distribution of polymer samples (8). 

In this chapter we describe the basic principles involved in the controlled production and modification of two-dimensional protein crystals. These are synthesized in nature as the outermost cell surface layer (S-layer) of prokaryotic organisms and have been successfully applied as basic building blocks in a biomolecular construction kit. Most importantly, the constituent subunits of the S-layer lattices have the capability to recrystallize into iso-porous closed monolayers in suspension, at liquid-surface interfaces, on lipid films, on liposomes, and on solid supports (e.g., silicon wafers, metals, and polymers). The self-assembled monomolecular lattices have been utilized for the immobilization of functional biomolecules in an ordered fashion and for their controlled confinement in defined areas of nanometer dimension. Thus, S-layers fulfill key requirements for the development of new supramolecular materials and enable the design of a broad spectrum of nanoscale devices, as required in molecular nanotechnology, nanobiotechnology, and biomimetics [1-3]. 

---