Elaboration of porous polymeric membranes from colloidal crystals

Polymeric porous membranes with a high control of morphology and porous size were fabricated from colloidal crystals made of silica particles. This fabrication process allows different morphologies according to the particle sizes and number of layers on the templates. Silica particles with a narrow size distribution were synthesized by two methods. Colloidal crystals were obtained by vertical deposition of the particles on a glass substrate and by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique to create templates of different particle sizes. To produce the membrane, polystyrene (PS) and styrene (St)-vinyl benzyl thymine (VBT) copolymers were used. The procedure involved the infiltration of monomers in the templates and then, the polymerization by UV radiation. The proposed method represents a relatively simple alternative, both versatile and economically attractive to manufacture macroporous polymers.