Hybridization of a Macroporous Sponge and Spherical Microporous Adsorbents for High Throughput Separation of Ionic Solutes

Abstract

Hybrid materials using a macroporous sponge and spherical microporous adsorbents have been developed for an effective rapid pretreatment of water samples. Various adsorbents, including methacrylate series, divinylbenzene (DVB), and graphite particles, were utilized for hybridization with a macroporous sponge consisting of polyethylene and polyvinyl acetate, EVA resin. Both the EVA resin and each of the particles were thermally blended at 150℃ with water-soluble pore templates, pentaerythritol and poly (oxyethylene, oxypropylene) triol. After molding as a columnar shape, the hybrid materials were observed by a scanning electron microscope both before and after washing with water/methanol sonication. Only methacrylate series could be effectively fixed onto the pore surface of sponge, whereas DVB and graphite particles were incorporated to the EVA matrix. We assume that the chemical interactions between EVA and adsorbents are very important for effective hybridization to fix the adsorbents onto the pore surface. Furthermore, we demonstrated the hybridization of ion-exchange resin and sponge for a high throughput purification of ionic compounds. The ion-exchangeable polymers prepared by methacrylic acid, 4-vinylpiridine, and p-styrene sulfonic acid with ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate could be fixed at a given ratio of "20, wt%", and its effective adsorption based on the ion-exchange ability was observed under rapid elution (3 mL min{−1}).