Highly porous polymer dendrites of pyrrole derivatives synthesized through rapid oxidative polymerization

Highly porous organic structures are synthesized by the oxidative polymerization of pyrrole derivatives in a concentrated monomer and oxidant solution. The rapid polymerization of pyrrole by oxidation with FeCl₃ in CHCl₃ as a cosolvent for the monomer and the oxidant leads to nanometer-scale branching morphologies that have a specific surface area of ~200 m² g⁻¹. The polymerization of pyrrole derivatives, such as 1-methylpyrrole and 1-ethylpyrrole, produced intragranular micropores of ~1 nm in diameter in the polymer grains of nanoscale dendrites. We obtained highly porous polymers of polypyrrole derivatives that have high specific surface areas (~900 m² g⁻¹) with bimodal pore-size distribution. The enhanced adsorbability of porous polymer dendrites for aromatic molecules was confirmed, in comparison with that of conventional polystyrene adsorbents.