Multi-length scale porous polymer films from hypercrosslinked breath figure arrays

Multi-length scale porous polymer (MLSPP) films were fabricated using commercially available polystyrene (PS) via static breath figure (BF) process and sequent hypercrosslinking reaction. One level of ordered pores in microscale were introduced using static BF process, and the other level in nanoscale were produced by the sequent Friedel-Crafts hypercrosslinking reaction. The chemical structure of the PS MLSPP film was investigated by Fourier transformation infrared spectrometry and solid state nuclear magnetic resonance, and the morphology of the film was observed with electron microscopes. The MLSPP films showed large specific surface areas and excellent chemical and thermal stabilities, owing to the micropores and the crosslinked chemical structure produced by the Friedel-Crafts reaction. The methodology reported in this paper is a template-free, low cost and general strategy for the preparation of MLSPP films, which has potential applications in the areas of environment and energy.