Application of thin films to porous mineral oxides using two‐dimensional solvents

Thin polymeric films have been applied to the surface of a porous material in a novel process. Nitrogen sorption, a conventional tool for measuring surface areas and pore size distributions, can be employed for determining the thickness of such films through a comparison of the pore size distribution curves before and after film formation. The thickness of a polystyrene film on a porous alumina powder is determined and compared with the theoretical thickness for styrene polymerized inside a two‐dimensional solvent, which consists of a partial bilayer of sodium dodecyl sulfate physically adsorbed from an aqueous solution onto the powder. Film thicknesses ranged from 1.8 to 0.4 nm while BET surface area decreased from 94.7 to 57.8 m2/g. The powder surface changes from hydrophilic to hydrophobic while retaining the basic pore structure.