(161p) Synthesis and in-Situ Functionalization of Microfiltration Membranes from Polymerized High Internal Phase Emulsions

Polymerizing the continuous phase of high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) produces highly porous materials known as polyHIPEs. The polyHIPEs have many potential applications due to their high porosity, high interconnectivity, and low density. The goal of this work is to enhance the performance of microfiltration (MF) membranes by synthesizing polyHIPEs which have a hydrophobic bulk and a hydrophilic surface. Therefore, in-situ functionalization is performed through interfacial copolymerization of a hydrophobic monomer in the continuous phase with a hydrophilic co-monomer in the dispersed phase. The interfacial copolymerization of the co-monomer increases the permeability of the polyHIPE MF membranes. We showed that the polyHIPE MF membranes have higher intrinsic permeability in comparison to the conventional MF membranes. In addition, the rejection of the polyHIPE MF membranes is studied for the separation of microalgae.