Effect of crosslinking on porous poly(methyl methacrylate) produced by phase separation

Porous polymethyl methacrylate scaffolds were produced by phase separation during polymerisation in solution, using ethanol as solvent, with monomer/ethanol weight ratios from 80/20 up to 20/80 and different ethylenglycol dimethacrylate contents (1, 5 and 10 wt%) as crosslinker agent. For ethanol weight ratios equal to or lower than 50 wt%, the material presents a homogeneous distribution of dispersed pores. For higher ethanol contents, a highly interconnected porous structure is obtained. The transition from one type of morphology to the other can be also controlled with the amount of crosslinker added in the reactive mixture. Bulk polymethyl methacrylate samples (non-porous) with the same crosslinking densities were also synthesised as reference. The effect of crosslinker is studied by porosity measurements, scanning electron microscopy, dynamic-mechanical spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry.