Polymeric Membranes from Colloidal Templates with Tunable Morphology

Polymeric porous membranes were fabricated from templates made from silica particles. The templates were obtained by self-assembly and by the Langmuir-Blodgett (L-B) technique. For the self-assembly technique, suspensions of silica particles in ethanol were used to create the deposits. L-B deposition was employed to produce templates of different particle sizes for the fabrication of asymmetric membranes. Two different polymers were tested to fabricate membranes: polystyrene (PS) and the diethyleneglycol dimethacrylate (DEGDMA)/urethane dimethacrylate (UDMA) copolymer. Templates and porous films were observed by SEM in order to analyze the pore morphology. Permeability of the poly (DEGDMA/UDMA) films was comparable to commercially available membranes. Proposed applications for these ordered porous structures include, sensors, filters, and catalytic materials.