METHACRYLIC CROSS-LINKED POROUS COPOLYMERS - PREPARATION OF POLY(2-HYDROXYPORPYL-CO-ETHYLENE DIMETHACRYLATES)

Polar adsorbents, possessing porous structure, based on 2-hydroxypropy l methacrylate crosslinked with ethylene-, diethylene-, or triethylene glycol dimethacrylate esters have been prepared via suspension techni que in the presence of the porogene compounds (toluene, butyl acetate) . The conditions of the copolymerization process, which influence the main properties of the porous copolymers have also been investigated. Beads of adsorbent with large, or very large pore sizes (100-2.000 nm) , and specific surface areas (2.0-189.0 m2/g) have been obtained. The features of the porous copolymers are mostly influenced by the chemica l structure of the dimethacrylic ester as well as its concentration.