Organic zeolites from a diolefinic monomer

Submicrometer particles of diethyl p-phenylenediacrylate (EPA) with tunable molecular adsorption characteristics were produced by solid-state photopolymerization in the presence of template molecules. EPA monomer particles were produced by rapid expansion of supercritical solutions (RESS), and deposited directly onto surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators. The EPA particles were photopolymerized directly on the SAW devices in the presence of molecular templates, and dynamic sorption isotherms of C1- through C9-alkanes were studied to characterize the particle-vapor interaction. The mass increase due to vapor uptake into the particulate coatings was measured by monitoring the SAW resonance frequency during vapor sorption. The vapor selectivity and molecular porosity of the particulate coatings were studied in situ on the piezoelectric substrate by measuring sorption isotherms. A gradual exclusion of smaller alkane molecules from the molecularly imprinted particulate coatings was observed with decreasing template molecule size. The observed selective and reversible adsorption of alkane analytes with different molecular sizes suggest that these imprinted polymers may be categorized as organic analogues of zeolites.