Stability of surfactant-free high internal phase emulsions and its tailoring morphology of porous polymers based on the emulsions

Abstract Stable water-in-oil (w/o) high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) having an internal phase of up to 95 vol% were prepared. The poly(styrene-methyl methacrylate-acrylic acid) (P(St-MMA-AA)) copolymer particles were used as stabilizer. The HIPEs prepared with addition of copolymer particles to the aqueous phase were stabilized by copolymer particles initially, followed by the mixture of copolymer particles and copolymer as the particles eventually dissolves in the organic phase, and finally by only copolymer. Stable w/o HIPEs having an internal phase of up to 92 vol% were also formed with P(St-MMA-AA) copolymer dissolved in the organic phase as the sole stabilizer. Porous polymers (polyHIPEs) were prepared based on these two types of surfactant-free HIPEs. The morphology of the polyHIPEs, such as the surface roughness of the voids and average void diameter, were tailored by tuning the internal phase volume fraction, NaCl, copolymer, and crosslinker concentrations.