(578g) Mesocellular Phenol Formaldehyde Foams: Synthesis, Characterization and Lysozyme Adsorption Study

This study aims at systematic investigation of nanocasting strategy to produce organic mesoporous polymers and exploration of their potential as sorbents for bio-separations. Siliceous mesocellular foam (MCF) templates of regular and modified mesostructures and morphologies have been synthesized by symbiotic interplay between TMB and TEOS concentration in the seminal microemulsion. MCFs with thickened walls, polyhedral foam-like and ultra large macroporous textures and interconnected rod-like morphologies have been fabricated.  These interesting templates have been employed to produce mesocellular phenol formaldehyde foams (MPFFs). TEM, SEM images in conjunction with N₂ physisorption analysis suggest disordered but nearly faithful replication of cavity sizes and morphologies.  Strikingly, hierarchical trimodal MPFFs have been synthesized when high TMB/P123 and TEOS/P123 mass ratios are utilized to make the MCF templates. Ultra-large 100 nm diameter nearly spherical cavities were witnessed in the TEM images of MPFF@R₁2.5R₂4.4 which may evince the relatively large Lysozyme adsorption capacities in comparison to the MPFFs templated using conventional MCFs. These MPFFs posses narrow PSDs, high surface areas of above 900 m²/g and large pore volumes up to 1.37 cm³/g. Micropore volumes constituting more than 20% of the total pore volume are expected to play a vital role in mass transport of biomolecules further augmenting the dynamics of diffusion. Lysozyme adsorption capacities of more than 230 mg/g have been achieved, which holds enough promise to further enhance their capacities using post-synthesis functionalization techniques.