Polystyrene-polyacrylamide composite

Also known as Polyhype-based composites, this is a composite of 10- 50% cross-linked polystyrene containing a very high pore volume (-90%) and containing polyacrylamide inside the cavities. Both covalently attached polystyrene-polyacrylamide and noncovalently attached polystyrene-polyacrylamide composites are available with substitutions in the range of 0.1-2.0 mmol amine/g resin [20,21], 

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G.-H. Ma, H. Sone, S. Omi, Preparation of imiform-sized polystyrene-polyacrylamide composite microspheres from a W/O/W emulsion by membrane emulsification technique and subsequent suspension polymerization. Macromolecules 2004, 37, 2954. 

The first section, Chemical Reactions on Polymers, deals with aspects of chemical reactions occurring on polymers—aspects relating to polymer size, shape, and composition are described in detail. One of the timely fields of applications comprises the use of modified polymers as catalysts (such as the immobilization of centers for homogeneous catalysis). This topic is considered in detail in Chapters 2, 3, 8, 9, and 11 and dealt with to a lesser extent in other chapters. The use of models and neighboring group effect(s) is described in detail. The modification of polymers for chemical and physical change is also described in detail in Chapters 2 (polystyrene) 4 (polyvinyl chloride) 5 (polyacrylic acid, polyvinyl alcohol, polyethyleneimine, and polyacrylamide) 6 (polyimides) 7 (polyvinyl alcohol) 8 (polystyrene sulfonate and polyvinylphosphonate) 10 (polyacrylamide) and 12 (organotin carboxylates). 

If both continuous and dispersed phases of highly concentrated emulsions contain monomeric species, it is possible to obtain hydrophilic/hydrophobic polymer composite materials. Polyacrylamide/polystyrene composites have been prepared in this manner [180], from both w/o and o/w HIPEs containing aqueous acrylamide and a solution of styrene in an organic solvent. 

The composite materials have been used to form selective membranes for the separation of liquid mixtures [181]. The membranes should consist of a polymer which is soluble in the liquid components) to be separated, as the dispersed phase-derived polymer, and a continuous phase-derived polymer which is insoluble in all components of the liquid mixture. Thus, membranes consisting of polystyrene in polyacrylamide will separate toluene from cyclohexane, and those comprising polyacrylamide in crosslinked polystyrene can be used for water removal from ethanol. Due to the very thin films of polymer which separate the polyhedral dispersed phase cells, the permeation rates, which are measured by pervaporation, are relatively high. 

I. Polystyrene (Dispersed Phase)-Polyacrylamide (Continuous Phase) Composite (Table 6), and... 

Table 7. The amounts of the components used in the preparation of the polyacrylamide polystyrene composite...

A transmission electron micrograph of a composite whose composition is given in Table 7 is presented in Fig. 33. This figure shows that the dispersed phase is composed of polyhedral cells of polyacrylamide separated by films of polystyrene. The obtained material is white, soft, and exhibits some elasticity. 

Fig. 33. Transmission electron micrograph of a composite with the composition given in Table 7. The white regions represent the polyacrylamide and the black regions the polystyrene...

In the methodology developed by us [24], the incompatibility of the two polymers was exploited in a positive way. The composites were obtained using a two-step method. In the first step, hydrophilic (hydrophobic) polymer latex particles were prepared using the concentrated emulsion method. The monomer-precursor of the continuous phase of the composite or water, when that monomer was hydrophilic, was selected as the continuous phase of the emulsion. In the second step, the emulsion whose dispersed phase was polymerized was dispersed in the continuous-phase monomer of the composite or its solution in water when the monomer was hydrophilic, after a suitable initiator was introduced in the continuous phase. The submicrometer size hydrophilic (hydrophobic) latexes were thus dispersed in the hydrophobic (hydrophilic) continuous phase without the addition of a dispersant. The experimental observations indicated that the above colloidal dispersions remained stable. The stability is due to both the dispersant introduced in the first step and the presence of the films of the continuous phase of the concentrated emulsion around the latex particles. These films consist of either the monomer-precursor of the continuous phase of the composite or water when the monomer-precursor is hydrophilic. This ensured the compatibility of the particles with the continuous phase. The preparation of poly(styrenesulfonic acid) salt latexes dispersed in cross-linked polystyrene matrices as well as of polystyrene latexes dispersed in crosslinked polyacrylamide matrices is described below. The two-step method is compared to the single-step ones based on concentrated emulsions or microemulsions. 

Table 13. Representative compositions in the preparation of polymer composites polystyrene particles dispersed in cross-linked polyacrylamide...

Four polymers with different surface compositions were used in this study—polystyrene (PS), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), polyacrylamide (PAM), and a poly(vinylidene chloride) (PVeC) copolymer (containing 20% polyacrylonitrile). Polystyrene has essentially a hydrocarbon surface, whereas the surfaces of poly (methyl methacrylate) and polyacrylamide contain ester and amide groups, respectively. The surface of the poly(vinylidene chloride) copolymer on the other hand will contain a relatively large number of chlorine atoms. The presence of acrylonitrile in the poly(vinylidene chloride) copolymer improved the solubility characteristics of the polymer for the purposes of this study, but did not appreciably alter, its critical surface tension of wetting. Values of y of these polymers ranged from 30 to 33 dynes per cm. for polystyrene to approximately 40 dynes per cm. for the poly(vinylidene chloride) copolymer. No attempt was made to determine e crystallinity of the polymer samples, or to correlate crystallinity with adsorption of the fluorocarbon additives. 

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