Preparation of pickering emulsions by using surface modified particles and synthesis of macroporous polydicyclopentadien based composites materials exhibiting improved properties

Porous polymers are used in many areas such as catalysis, environmental applications, storage of liquids and gases, medical applications, pharmaceutical applications, tissue engineering and energy storage applications due to the advantages of their pore morphologies. The aim of this thesis is to prepare polydicyclopentadiene (polyDCPD)-based porous monoliths with high mechanical strength and chemical functionality that can be used in separation, purification and/or energy storage areas. In this study, the High Internal Phase Emulsion (HIPE) templating approach, which stands out with its ability to control pore morphology, was used in the preparation of porous polymers. The basic principle of this approach is based on the use of HIPEs as a template for pore formation. HIPEs are defined as emulsions with an internal phase volume fraction (Ø) of more than 74.05%. When the continuous phase or both phases of a HIPE contains monomeric species, polymerization of HIPEs results in macroporous polymer monoliths called polyHIPEs. While emulsifiers are commonly used in the preparation of stable HIPEs, it is also possible to use solid particles for this purpose. Such HIPEs stabilized with particles are called Pickering-HIPEs, while polymers derived from these emulsions are called Pickering-polyHIPEs. In this thesis, surface modified crystalline nanocellulose (CNC) and calcite particles were used to stabilize emulsions and provide functionality to the obtained materials. In order to determine the effect of particle type and surface modification method, CNC and calcite particles were modified using different approaches. Then, DCPD-based Pickering-HIPEs were prepared with an experimental design approach using these particles. Three different Pickering-polyHIPE monolith series were obtained by polymerizing the prepared Pickering-HIPEs. For each series of polyHIPE monoliths, mathematical model equations were derived to express the relationship between the experimental parameters and the final material properties such as average cavity size, interconnected pore size, specific surface area, pore volume, skeletal density, foam density, and compression modulus.