Preparation of double-emulsion-templated microspheres with controllable porous structures by premix membrane emulsification--颗粒学报PARTICUOLOGY

Na, X., Zhou, W., Li, T., Hong, D., Li, J., & Ma, G. (2019). Preparation of double-emulsion-templated microspheres with controllable porous structures by premix membrane emulsification. Particuology, 44, 22-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.partic.2018.07.007

Preparation of double-emulsion-templated microspheres with controllable porous structures by premix membrane emulsification

Xiangming Na ^{a b}, Weiqing Zhou ^{a b}, Tong Li ^a, Ding Hong ^a, Juan Li ^a, Guanghui Ma ^a^b *

a State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
b University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

10.1016/j.partic.2018.07.007

Volume 44, June 2019, Pages 22-27

Received 11 April 2018, Revised 10 July 2018, Accepted 15 July 2018, Available online 7 January 2019, Version of Record 30 April 2019.

E-mail: ghma@ipe.ac.cn

Highlights

• Uniform W/O/W emulsions were generated by two-step premix membrane emulsification.

• The porous microsphere particle and pore sizes were precisely adjustable.

• These porous microspheres have potential application as chromatographic media.

Abstract

A scalable and versatile strategy was developed for the fabrication of uniform polymeric microspheres with controllable interconnected porous structures. Uniform water-in-oil-in-water emulsions with linear poly(methyl methacrylate–glycidyl methacrylate) in the oil phase were generated by two-step premix membrane emulsification and used for constructing the microspheres. During the emulsion solidification process, internal water droplets were packed densely together, forming a thin oil film between the internal and external water phases. After solvent diffusion, the thin film can be ruptured and pores can be templated from the internal water droplets to form interconnected porous structures. Membranes with various pore sizes were obtained. The osmotic pressure and Laplace pressure balance were used to control the porosity and pore size precisely. The proposed method enables the fabrication of functional polymeric microspheres with uniform and controllable porous structures and particle sizes. This improves their performance and broadens the scope of their applications, especially in chromatographic separation.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Double emulsion; Membrane emulsification; Porous microsphere; Uniform structure

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