This research proposal concerns tailoring of the surface chemistry of monolithic porous polymers. Macroporous
monoliths containing grafting sites will be prepared based on methacrylic monomers. Grafting of charged moieties
that might be required for the generation of electroosmotic flow and Coulombic interactions as well as uncharged
polar monomers such as polymerisable carbohydrates or other functional monomers that are desirable for numerous
applications of the porous monoliths, will be performed using living free radical polymerization. This will allow
tailoring the surface chemistry in terms of hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity, charge density, and reactivity. It is also
conceivable to prepare the charged moieties necessary for the induction of electroosmotic flow that are shielded by
electrically neutral chains. Such polymeric `shields` should prevent undesired Coulombic interactions between
charged functionalities at the surface and oppositely charged analytes, thus improving the efficiency of separation
processes.