2 research outputs found
Ideal CO<sub>2</sub>/Light Gas Separation Performance of Poly(vinylimidazolium) Membranes and Poly(vinylimidazolium)-Ionic Liquid Composite Films
Six vinyl-based, imidazolium room-temperature ionic liquid
(RTIL)
monomers were synthesized and photopolymerized to form dense poly(RTIL)
membranes. The effect of polymer backbone (i.e., poly(ethylene), poly(styrene),
and poly(acrylate)) and functional cationic substituent (e.g., alkyl,
fluoroalkyl, oligo(ethylene glycol), and disiloxane) on ideal CO<sub>2</sub>/N<sub>2</sub> and CO<sub>2</sub>/CH<sub>4</sub> membrane
separation performance was investigated. The vinyl-based poly(RTIL)s
were found to be generally less CO<sub>2</sub>-selective compared
to analogous styrene- and acrylate-based poly(RTIL)s. The CO<sub>2</sub> permeability of <i>n</i>-hexyl- (69 barrers) and disiloxane-
(130 barrers) substituted vinyl-based poly(RTIL)s were found to be
exceptionally larger than that of previously studied styrene and acrylate
poly(RTIL)s. The CO<sub>2</sub> selectivity of oligo(ethylene glycol)-functionalized
vinyl poly(RTIL)s was enhanced, and the CO<sub>2</sub> permeability
was reduced when compared to the <i>n</i>-hexyl-substituted
vinyl-based poly(RTIL). Nominal improvement in CO<sub>2</sub>/CH<sub>4</sub> selectivity was observed upon fluorination of the <i>n</i>-hexyl vinyl-based poly(RTIL), with no observed change
in CO<sub>2</sub> permeability. However, rather dramatic improvements
in both CO<sub>2</sub> permeability <i>and</i> selectivity
were observed upon blending 20 mol % RTIL (emim Tf<sub>2</sub>N) into
the <i>n</i>-hexyl- and disiloxane-functionalized vinyl
poly(RTIL)s to form solid–liquid composite films
Morphological Phase Behavior of Poly(RTIL)-Containing Diblock Copolymer Melts
The development of nanostructured polymeric systems containing
directionally continuous poly(ionic liquid) (poly(IL)) domains has
considerable implications toward a range of transport-dependent, energy-based
technology applications. The controlled, synthetic integration of
poly(IL)s into block copolymer (BCP) architectures provides a promising
means to this end, based on their inherent ability to self-assemble
into a range of defined, periodic morphologies. In this work, we report
the melt-state phase behavior of an imidazolium-containing alkyl–ionic
BCP system, derived from the sequential ring-opening metathesis polymerization
(ROMP) of imidazolium- and alkyl-substituted norbornene monomer derivatives.
A series of 16 BCP samples were synthesized, varying both the relative
volume fraction of the poly(norbornene dodecyl ester) block (<i>f</i><sub>DOD</sub> = 0.42–0.96) and the overall molecular
weights of the block copolymers (<i>M</i><sub>n</sub> values
from 5000–20 100 g mol<sup>–1</sup>). Through
a combination of small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and dynamic rheology,
we were able to delineate clear compositional phase boundaries for
each of the classic BCP phases, including lamellae (Lam), hexagonally
packed cylinders (Hex), and spheres on a body-centered-cubic lattice
(S<sub>BCC</sub>). Additionally, a liquid-like packing (LLP) of spheres
was found for samples located in the extreme asymmetric region of
the phase diagram, and a persistent coexistence of Lam and Hex domains
was found in lieu of the bicontinuous cubic gyroid phase for samples
located at the intersection of Hex and Lam regions. Thermal disordering
was opposed even in very low molecular weight samples, detected only
when the composition was highly asymmetric (<i>f</i><sub>DOD</sub> = 0.96). Annealing experiments on samples exhibiting Lam
and Hex coexistence revealed the presence of extremely slow transition
kinetics, ultimately selective for one or the other but not the more
complex gyroid phase. In fact, no evidence of the bicontinuous network
was detected over a 2 month annealing period. The ramifications of
these results for transport-dependent applications targeting the use
of highly segregated poly(IL)-containing BCP systems are carefully
considered