Preparation of high surface area mesoporous melamine formaldehyde resins

Mesoporous melamine formaldehyde resins (MMF) with high surface areas and large pore volumes and diameters were prepared without the use of a template. Conditions such as solvent, concentration, formaldehyde/melamine ratio and curing temperature and time on the pore parameters of synthesized MMF were investigated. The results showed that the sample (MMF9-120) synthesized in the solvent H2O/DMAc had the surface area higher than 1000 m2/g, pore diameter of about 22 nm and pore volume of about 3.5 cm3/g. It was found to be amphiphilic owing to the presence of amino, ether and alkyl groups on its surface, so that it adsorbed great amount of H2O and toluene. Due to the large pore diameter and volume, it also adsorbed great amount of tannic acid (MW = 1701) and bovine serum albumin (MW = 69 k) (850 and 1160 mg/g, respectively), indicating an excellent adsorbent for large molecules. In addition, it was thermally stable and when heated at 350 °C, the formed MMF9-350 still possessed the high surface area (549 m2/g), which was expected to be a new resin support for catalysts, as compared to the traditional porous polystyrene resins which can only be used at temperatures below 120 °C.