Polymer Science Commons^™

Adaption Of Catechol And Reversible Addition-Fragmentation Chain-Transfer (Raft) Chemistries For Water-Based Applications, Olabode Oyeneye

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Incorporating the binding chemistry of catechol functionality with RAFT chemistry offers a facile and simplified approach for developing a suite of new 2D and 3D hybrid materials with tailored morphologies. Leveraging both chemistries by synthesizing catechol-end functionalized RAFT agents and catechol-containing monomeric species for RAFT (co)polymerization, this dissertation examined a new series of advanced materials that were designed for water-based applications including model flocculants, thermoresponsive hydrogels, adsorbents and underwater adhesives.

To prepare the RAFT agents, novel trithiocarbonates with several catechol end R groups (as postpolymerization anchors) were synthesized that differ in their carbonyl α-substituents (Dopa-CTAs). These materials were evaluated for …

Analyses Of Densely Crosslinked Phenolic Systems Using Low Field Nmr, Jigneshkumar Patel

Doctoral Dissertations

A uniform dispersion of reactants is necessary to achieve a complete reaction involving multi-components, especially for the crosslinking of rigid high-performance materials. In these reactions, miscibility is crucial for curing efficiency. This miscibility is typically enhanced by adding a third component, a plasticizer. For the reaction of the highly crystalline crosslinking agent hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) with a strongly hydrogen-bonded phenol formaldehyde resin, furfural has been traditionally used as the plasticizer. However, the reason for its effectiveness is not clear. In this doctoral thesis work, miscibility and crosslinking efficiency of plasticizers in phenolic curing reactions are studied by thermal analysis and spectroscopic …

Tunable Nanocomposite Membranes For Water Remediation And Separations, Sebastián Hernández Sierra

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Nano-structured material fabrication using functionalized membranes with polyelectrolytes is a promising research field for water pollution, catalytic and mining applications. These responsive polymers react to external stimuli like temperature, pH, radiation, ionic strength or chemical composition. Such nanomaterials provide novel hybrid properties and can also be self-supported in addition to the membranes.

Polyelectrolytes (as hydrogels) have pH responsiveness. The hydrogel moieties gain or lose protons based on the pH, displaying swelling properties. These responsive materials can be exploited to synthesize metal nanoparticles in situ using their functional groups, or to immobilize other polyelectrolytes and biomolecules. Due to their properties, these …