Photochemical synthesis and characterization of hypercrosslinked polystyrene, a novel porous organic material

Benzoylated polystyrene (BPS) was subjected to UV radiation in solution in the presence of isopropanol where upon, it was observed to undergo essentia lly quantitative crosslinking to form polystyrene resin with tertiary hydro xyl functionality. The crosslinking kinetics was followed by IR spectroscop y. The desired degree of crosslinking was accomplished by controlling the e xtent of benzoylation of the polymer. Following crosslinking, the gels were freeze-dried and suitably characterized by solid state NMR and IR spectros copic techniques. Scanning electron microscopic studies reveal the formatio n of porous network. Some of the crosslinked resins, dried suitably, exhibi t high surface area as confirmed by BET adsorption isotherm studies.