A compact, highly expandable sorbent made from polymeric materials is contemplated. The resulting sorbent can absorb more than 20 times its original volume owing to an internal foam-like structure having micron-level voids bisected by internal struts which themselves have nano-level pores. Further, this sorbent can be compressed and reused multiple times, thereby making it an ideal substance to facilitate separation of disparate fluids, such as oils floating on or within an aqueous solution.

A HIPE foam may including a vinyl-based crosslinked polymer as a base material resin. The vinyl-based crosslinked polymer may be formed by crosslinking a polymer of a styrene-based monomer and/or an acryl-based monomer. An apparent density ρ of the HIPE foam may be 35 kg/m.sup.3 or more and 500 kg/m.sup.3 or less. A molecular weight between crosslinking points of the vinyl-based crosslinked polymer forming the HIPE foam may be 2×10.sup.3 or more and 2×10.sup.5 or less. The HIPE foam may be used as, for example, a machinable material or an impact absorbing material.

A molded body is produced from a molding material including a continuous phase and a dispersed phase by a three-dimensionalization step, a curing step, and a peeling step. The continuous phase of the molding material is a water phase containing a curable compound. In the three-dimensionalization step, the molding material is placed in a container. In the curing step, the curable compound is cured to form a cured product after the three-dimensionalization step. In the peeling step, the container and the cured product are separated after the curing step. In the dispersed phase removal step, the dispersed phase of the cured product is removed after the curing step.

A compound made by copolymerizing a poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) chain transfer agent, an acrylate salt, and a polyethylene glycol diacrylate. A compound made by copolymerizing a polyethylene glycol, a glycerol ethoxylate, and an aliphatic diisocyanate.

Provided herein is a superabsorbent polyHIPE composition-of-matter comprising a majority of ionizable pendant groups, capable of absorbing up to 300-fold by mass water while exhibiting a notable mechanical strength in both the dry and wet form, as well as various uses thereof.

The composition, advantageously an emulsion or a foam, includes an internal phase dispersed in a hydrophilic continuous phase, the percentage of the internal phase being higher than 50%. The emulsion composition contains nanocrystals of a polysaccharide other than cellulose, advantageously chitin, that are located at the interface between the internal phase and the hydrophilic continuous phase.

A High Internal Phase Emulsion (HIPE) foam having cellulose nanoparticles.

A compound made by copolymerizing a poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) chain transfer agent, an acrylate salt, and a polyethylene glycol diacrylate. A compound made by copolymerizing a polyethylene glycol, a glycerol ethoxylate, and an aliphatic diisocyanate.

A method for manufacturing a porous film includes: a first step of preparing droplets (D) which are formed from a first liquid into spheres with a predetermined diameter of 10 μm or more and 2000 μm or less and a second liquid (L2) which includes a curing agent which cures by imparting energy or a curing agent which cures due to change in pH and includes droplets dispersed therein; a second step of injecting the droplets and the second liquid into a gap between a pair of substrates (31 and 32); a third step of curing the second liquid to form an external phase; and the fourth step of removing the droplets in the external phase to form hole sections.

The present invention relates to a method of preparing a hierarchically porous polymer and a hierarchically porous polymer prepared thereby. The method comprises the steps of: (a) polymerizing an external oil phase of a high internal phase emulsion (HIPE) consisting aqueous droplets to produce a cross-linked block copolymer; (b) obtaining a macroporous polymer with interconnected macropores by removing the aqueous droplets; and (c) treating the obtained porous polymer with a base, thereby obtaining a hierarchically porous polymer having three-dimensional mesopores formed in the macroporous walls. According to the method, the macropore size and mesopore size of the hierarchically porous polymer can all be controlled. The hierarchically porous polymer prepared by the method can easily separate polymers having different sizes, and thus is highly useful in the polymer separation field.