Bicontinuous structures of polymerized microemulsions: ¹H NMR self-diffusion and conductivity studies

The bicontinuous microemulsions consisting of methyl methacrylate (MMA), 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), water, and acryloyloxyundecyldimethylammonio acetate (AUDMAA) were polymerized using 2,2-dimethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone as a photoinitiator. They were characterized by ¹H NMR self-diffusion and conductivity measurements before and after polymerization. It is believed that bicontinuous microporous structures existed in these resulting transparent polymeric materials. Some of these microstructures may closely resemble those of bicontinuos microemulsions prior to polymerization. This is especially so for those transparent polymer samples prepared from bicontinuous microemulsions containing higher water content (>45 wt %) and lower HEMA content (<5 wt %).