High temperature structural, polymeric foams from high internal emulsion polymerization

In 1982, a high internal phase emulsion (HIPE) polymerization process to manufacture microcellular, polymeric foam systems was patented by Unilever. This patent discloses a polymerization process that occurs in a water-in-oil emulsion in which the water represents at least 76% of the emulsion by volume. The oil phase consists of vinyl monomers such as styrene and acrylates that are crosslinked by divinyl monomers during polymerization. After polymerization and drying to remove the water phase, the result is a crosslinked polymer foam with an open cell microstructure that is homogeneous throughout in terms of morphology, density, and mechanical properties. Since 1982, numerous patents have examined various HIPE polymerized foam processing techniques and applications that include absorbents for body fluids, cleaning materials, and ion exchange systems. All the published HIPE polymerized foams have concentrated on materials for low temperature applications. Copolymerization of styrene with maleic anhydride and N-substituted maleimides to produce heat resistant thermoplastics has been studied extensively. These investigations have shown that styrene will free radically copolymerize with N-substituted maleimides to create an alternating thermoplastic copolymer with a Tg of approximately 200{degrees}C. However, there are many difficulties in attempting the maleimide styrene copolymerization in a HIPE such as lower polymerization temperatures, maleimide solubility difficulties in both styrene and water, and difficulty obtaining a stable HIPE with a styrene/maleimide oil phase. This work describes the preparation of copolymer foams from N-ethylmaleimide and Bis(3-ethyl-5-methyl-4-maleimide-phenyl)methane with styrene based monomers and crosslinking agents