Porous polyelectrolyte complex films and foams and related methods

1. A method for making a porous polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) film having a predetermined porosity, the method comprising:

coating the surface of a substrate with a polyelectrolyte (PE) coacervate mixture, the PE coacervate mixture comprising a cationic polymer, an anionic polymer, water, and a salt, the PE coacervate mixture having a salt concentration;

exposing the coating to an aqueous medium having another salt concentration, for a time to remove sufficient salt from the coating to induce solidification of polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) in the form of a PEC film having pores distributed throughout, wherein the pores have an average diameter in the range of from about 300 nm to about 3 μm,

wherein a difference Δ C-M between the salt concentration of the PE coacervate mixture and the salt concentration of the aqueous medium is selected to achieve a predetermined porosity for the porous PEC film.

2. The method of claim 1 , determining the difference Δ C-M from a calibration plot of Δ C-M versus porosity.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the time of exposure to the aqueous medium is at least 30 minutes.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the coating step is carried out using blade casting or roll casting.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising removing water from the porous PEC film.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the water removal is carried out via an air gun.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising exposing the porous PEC film to an aqueous salt solution having an ionic strength sufficient to dissolve the PECs.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising regenerating the porous PEC film from the dissolved PECs.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cationic polymer is selected from a group consisting of poly(allylamine), poly(ethyleneimine), Chitosan, poly(N-alkyl 4-vinyl pyridinium), poly(N-alkyl 2-vinyl pyridinium), poly(diallyldimethylammonium), poly([2-(Acryloyloxy)ethyl]trimethylammonium), Poly(N,N-dimethyl-3,5-dimethylene piperidinium chloride), poly(vinylbenzyltrimethylammonium chloride), polyvinylamine and combinations thereof, and the anionic polymer is selected from poly(acrylic acid), poly(methacrylic) acid, Agar, Alginate, Hyaluronic Acid, poly(styrene sulfonate), poly(phosphate) poly(vinylsulfonic acid), poly(acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonate), and combinations thereof.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the salt is selected from a group consisting of potassium bromide, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium bromide, sodium thiocyanate, guanidinium bromide, guanidinium thiocyanate, and combinations thereof.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined porosity is in the range of from 10% to 90%.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the predetermined porosity is in the range of from 10% to 60%.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pores comprise interconnected pores and closed pores.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the interconnected pores are in the form of elongated, tortuous channels extending in three-dimensions.

15. A method for making a porous polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) film having a predetermined porosity, the method comprising:

coating the surface of a substrate with a polyelectrolyte (PE) coacervate mixture, the PE coacervate mixture comprising a cationic polymer, an anionic polymer, water, and a salt, the PE coacervate mixture having a salt concentration;

exposing the coating to an aqueous medium having another salt concentration, for a time to induce solidification of polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) in the form of a PEC film having pores distributed throughout,

wherein a difference Δ C-M between the salt concentration of the PE coacervate mixture and the salt concentration of the aqueous medium is selected to achieve a predetermined porosity for the porous PEC film, wherein the porous PEC film is composed of a first sublayer and a second sublayer overlying the first sublayer and at the surface of the porous PEC film, wherein the first and second sublayers are characterized by different average pore diameters.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the average pore diameter of the second sublayer is smaller than the average pore diameter of the first sublayer.

17. A method for making a porous polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) film having a predetermined porosity, the method comprising:

coating the surface of a substrate with a polyelectrolyte (PE) coacervate mixture, the PE coacervate mixture comprising a cationic polymer, an anionic polymer, water, and a salt, the PE coacervate mixture having a salt concentration;

exposing the coating to an aqueous medium having another salt concentration, for a time to induce solidification of polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) in the form of a PEC film having pores distributed throughout,

wherein a difference Δ C-M between the salt concentration of the PE coacervate mixture and the salt concentration of the aqueous medium is selected to achieve a predetermined porosity for the porous PEC film, wherein the PE coacervate mixture further comprises a foaming agent and the method further comprises inducing the foaming agent to undergo a reaction to release a gas, thereby generating bubbles throughout the PE coacervate mixture, prior to the exposing step.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the porous PEC film is characterized as having the ability to reject at least 90% of polystyrene beads having a diameter of at least 100 nm.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the porous PEC film characterized as having the ability to reject at least 90% of PEGs having a molecular weight of at least 10 4 g/mol.