Chemistry Commons^™

Synthesis And Processing Of Polymeric Materials For Hydrogen Storage, Dominic Adrewie

Theses and Dissertations

Hydrogen is one of the most promising alternatives and clean fuel sources, but it has faced several hurdles due to storage and transportation issues. Several methods have been proposed, developed, and are being improved. Key among these is the use of polymers as safe hydrogen storage media.

This work investigated the polymerization of methyl vinyl ketone using different concentrations 2,2’-Azobis(2-methylpropionitrile) as the initiator in a free radical polymerization mechanism. There was a subsequent analysis of the effect of the initiator concentration on the conversion rate and the molecular weight of the polymers produced with the help of Gel permeation chromatography. …

Designing Polymer-Protein Complexes For Intracellular Delivery, Hazel Davis

Doctoral Dissertations

Previous work in the Tew group has demonstrated polymer cell-penetrating peptide mimics (CPPMs) as effective transporters of biological agents, including proteins and antibodies. These synthetic polymers non-covalently bind to cargo, offering a mechanism to deliver proteins in a way that does not alter protein secondary structure. However, correlations of the protein binding-delivery relationship or the role of polymer-protein complexation on intracellular activity of protein cargo are understudied. The work presented herein connects a fundamental understanding of polymer-protein complexation with intracellular internalization and cargo activity. Characterization and quantification of polymer-protein binding relationships were established using fluorescence quenching assays. In particular, the …

Comprehensive Review Of Polymer And Polymer Gel Treatments For Natural Gas-Related Conformance Control, Ali Al Brahim, Baojun Bai, Thomas P. Schuman

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Conformance problems often exist in natural gas-related activities, resulting in excessive water production from natural gas production wells and/or excessive natural gas production from oil production wells. Several mechanical and chemical solutions were reported in the literature to mitigate the conformance problems. Among the chemical solutions, two classes of materials, namely polymer gels and water-soluble polymers, have been mostly reported. These systems have been mainly reviewed in several studies for their applications as water shutoff treatments for oil production wells. Natural gas production wells exhibit different characteristics and have different properties which could impact the performance of the chemical solutions. …

Chemical And Physical Tailoring Of Guanidine-Based Covalent Adaptable Networks, Kate A. Mcconnell, Michael B. Larsen

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

We present the synthesis of two different guanidine-based CAN materials which, unlike traditional thermoset polymer networks, can undergo an exchange reaction called thermal guanidine metathesis (TGM) and be reprocessed. Thermosets, which are polymer networks characterized by permanent covalent crosslinks between chains, have a myriad of commercial applications. However, a major drawback to thermosets is their inability to be reprocessed. To develop a more sustainable thermoset-like material, CANs exhibit breaking and reforming of crosslinks under certain conditions that enable reprocessing. To elucidate the effects of varied guanidine structure on the rheological and mechanical properties of these dissociative CANs, we synthesized two …

Sustainable Polymers: Upcycling Poly(Vinyl Chloride) And Mimicking Low Density Polyethylene, Ian Baxter

Theses and Dissertations

In this research, increasing the sustainability of polymers was investigated through two main methods. The upcycling of poly(vinyl chloride) and the creation of polymer mimics to create degradable low-density polyethylene. In the first chapter, an overview of the sustainability issues of polymers is presented and approaches are described on how their sustainability may be increased through the upcycling of polymers or the synthesis of degradable polymers that mimic the properties of petrol-based polymers.

Chapter 2 contains the progress on the upcycling of PVC using high oleic soybean oil. Soybean oil can soften PVC making it less brittle than pure PVC. …

Gene Vectors With Fluorescence Tracking Capabilities, Sophia Despina Angelopoulos

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This project focuses on the optimization of benzothiazole-based chromophores to utilize them as fluorescent tags functionalized onto stimuli-responsive, or “smart,” polymers as non-viral gene delivery vectors for gene therapy applications. Blue-fluorescent emissive chromophores will allow tracking capabilities for the transfection pathway of the vector to be monitored as it delivers the DNA payload within intercellular space. The most appropriate chromophore must be covalently bound to a free amine within the vector, which is accomplished through NAS chemistry from fluorophenyl-benzothiazoles (F-BTZ-CBz) derivatives to amidated hyperbranched poly(ethyleneimine)(HPEI-IBAm0.61). HPEI is considered to be a synthetic polycation, which promotes tunable solubility through characteristics of …

Covalent Attachment Of Tadf Chromophores To Thermally Stable Poly(Arylene Ether)S, Samuel Farrar

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The covalent attachment of a blue emitting, benzothiazole based TADF chromophore into poly(arylene ether) backbone polymers was explored. A benzothiazole derivative, 2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-benzothiazole (2,4-diF-BTZ), was synthesized to form the electrophilic component of the host polymer. Two polymers were synthesized to have chromophore incorporated, using 2,4-diFBTZ and 4,4-dihydroxydiphenyl ether (DPE) or 4,4’-biphenol (BP). The chromophore was covalently incorporated at a 10% molar ratio into the polymer backbone by copolymerization with 2,4-diF-BTZ and BP, utilizing nucleophilic aromatic substitution (NAS). Structural characterization was provided via NMR spectroscopy and GC/MS analysis. The polymer syntheses provided high molecular weight materials that were able to be cast …