Undergraduate Posters

摘要

Amphiphilic copolymers are an exciting area of research, especially in their capacity as stimuli-responsive materials for biomedical and environmental applications. Recently our group has prepared anionic statistical amphiphilic copolymers or "polysoaps" via RAFT copolymerization, capable of unimeric micelle formation and hydrocarbon sequestration in water. These polysoaps are efficient in hydrocarbon uptake even under dilute conditions due to their ability to circumvent a critical micelle concentration (CMC) that small molecule surfactants are inhibited by. Though these systems effectively dispersed hydrocarbon in water, they are permanently water-soluble, thus eliminating the possibility to recover or recycle these types of copolymers. Presented herein, polysoaps were prepared via RAFT copolymerization of sulfonamide-based methacryloyl sulfamethazine (mSMZ) as a responsive hydrophilic monomer and 4-hexyl- phenyl methylacrylamide (4HPhMA) as a hydrophobic monomer. The afforded polysoaps are well-defined and are pH and CO2-responsive, enabling hydrocarbon uptake and subsequent removal from water. By varying the composition of 4HPhMA incorporated into the polysoap backbone, the behavioral properties and pH/CO2-dependence of micelle formation and phase separation can be tailored for application. When CO2 is flushed into the system, the polysoap solubility parameters change due to the sulfonamide's responsive functionality, resulting in phase separation or precipitation. Purging with N2 results in resolubilization of the polysoap, and this process can be repeated multiple times. The reversibility and recyclability of these polysoaps demonstrate high potential for them as sustainable materials for environmental remediation.