POLYMERIZATION OF MICROEMULSIONS TO YIELD FUNCTIONALIZED ABSORBENT MEMBRANES

The potential of using functionalised microporous membranes as adsorbe nts for chemical sensor applications is described. The membranes are f ormed by photopolymerization of water based microemulsions containing methyl methacrylate with acrylic acid, methacrylic acid or N-vinyl pyr rolidinone. By pre-treating a gold surface with allyl mercaptan, it is possible to anchor the membrane onto the surface. In this preliminary work, N-acryloyl morpholine is used as a functional ligand, incorpora tion of which into the porous coating allows ready absorption of coppe r ions from aqueous solution. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.