Hydrophilic polymer foams with well-defined open-cell structure prepared from pickering high internal phase emulsions

Open-cell hydrophilic polymer foams are prepared through oil-in-water Pickering high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs). The Pickering HIPEs are stabilized by commercial titania (TiO2) nanoparticles with adding small amounts of non-ionic surfactant Tween85. The morphologies, such as average void diameter and interconnectivity, of the foams can be tailored easily by varying the TiO2 nanoparticles and Tween85 concentrations. Further, investigation of the HIPE stability, emulsion structure and the location of TiO2 nanoparticles in resulting foams shows that the surfactant tends to occupy the oil-water interface at the contact point of adjacent droplets, where the interconnecting pores are hence likely to be formed after the consolidation of the continuous phase. (c) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2013, 51, 2181-2187