Volume 24, Issue 1 pp. 56-61
Research article

Sulfonated syndiotactic polystyrene: sorption of ionic liquid in the amorphous phase and of organic guests in the crystalline phase

Agata Dembna

Agata Dembna

Institute of Chemical Technology and Engineering, Poznan University of Technology (Politechnika Poznańska), Pl. Sklodowskiej-Curie 2, 60-965 Poznan, Poland

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Vincenzo Venditto

Corresponding Author

Vincenzo Venditto

Dipartimento di Chimica e Biologia, NANO_MATES Research Centre and INSTM Research Unit, Università degli Studi di Salerno, Via Ponte don Melillo, 84084 Fisciano, Italy

Vincenzo Venditto, Dipartimento di Chimica e Biologia, NANO_MATES Research Centre and INSTM Research Unit, Università degli Studi di Salerno, Via Ponte don Melillo, 84084, Fisciano, Italy.

E-mail: [email protected]

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Alexandra R. Albunia

Alexandra R. Albunia

Borealis Polyolefine GmbH, St.-Peter-Straβe 25, 4021 Linz Austria

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Rosa Califano

Rosa Califano

Dipartimento di Chimica e Biologia, NANO_MATES Research Centre and INSTM Research Unit, Università degli Studi di Salerno, Via Ponte don Melillo, 84084 Fisciano, Italy

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Gaetano Guerra

Gaetano Guerra

Dipartimento di Chimica e Biologia, NANO_MATES Research Centre and INSTM Research Unit, Università degli Studi di Salerno, Via Ponte don Melillo, 84084 Fisciano, Italy

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First published: 25 May 2012
Citations: 5

Abstract

Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Wide-Angle X-Ray Diffraction (WAXD) measurements have clearly established the occurrence of a dual sorption ability of sulfonated syndiotactic polystyrene samples, which exhibit the nanoporous δ crystalline phase. In fact, large uptake (up to 20–30 wt%) of ionic liquid (IL; e.g. 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide) occurs only in the hydrophilic amorphous sulfonated phases and does not disturb the hydrophobic nanoporous crystalline δ phase. On the other hand, a large uptake of organic guests (e.g. naphthalene) occurs prevailingly in the nanoporous hydrophobic crystalline phase, independently of the presence of the IL in the amorphous phase, eventually leading to the formation of syndiotactic polystyrene co-crystalline phases. The thermal stability of IL can be largely increased by their inclusion in the amorphous phase of sulfonated syndiotactic polystyrene films. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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