Ionic Liquid-Derived Nanostructured Polymers

M.A. Firestone, S. Grubjesic, S. Seifert
Argonne National Laboratory, US

Keywords: ionic liquids, nanostructured, polymers

Abstract:

In this work, we describe the design, synthesis and characterization of a family of nanostructured physical and chemical (polymeric) gels formed by the spontaneous organization of a binary mixture of water and either an ionic liquid (i.e., an N-alkylmethylimidazolium halide) or a polymerizable analogue thereof (N-alkylvinylimidazolium, 1-(10-acryloyloxydecy)-3-methylimidazolium) or 1-decyl-3-methylimidazolium acrylate.Small-angle X-ray scattering was used to study the rich variety of structural motifs, ranging from 1-D lamellar (LAM) to 2-D hexagonal (HEX) and 3-D cubic (gyroid, G) phases, achieved by the addition of water.