Macroporous poly(ionic liquid)s and poly(acrylamide)s monoliths from CO2-in-water emulsion templates stabilized by sugar-based surfactants

in Journal of Materials Chemistry (in press)

Highly interconnected poly(acrylamide) (PAM) and poly(vinylimidazolium) (PVIm) porous monoliths were templated by carbon 10 dioxide-in-water (CO2/W) high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs), a toxic-solvent ... [more ▼]

Highly interconnected poly(acrylamide) (PAM) and poly(vinylimidazolium) (PVIm) porous monoliths were templated by carbon 10 dioxide-in-water (CO2/W) high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs), a toxic-solvent free process. A range of sugar-based fluorinated surfactants prepared by chemoenzymatic synthesis were used as emulsifiers. Both the concentration and the structure of the surfactants, especially the length of their CO2-philic part and of their spacer between the sugar head and the tail, were found to strongly affect the cellular structure and morphology of the PAM polyHIPEs, i.e. the size of pores and cells. A mannose derivative bearing a chain ranging from 6 to 10 perfluorinated carbons and a long spacer emerged as the best stabilizer, leading to a porous monolith with average pores and 15 cells sizes (about 2.6 1m and 5-10 1m, respectively) among the lowest reported for polyHIPEs produced from CO2/W emulsions. The same template then served for the preparation of the first macroporous poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) polyHIPE by using 1-vinyl-3- ethylimidazolium bromide as monomer. Shrinkage of the final material was prevented by adjusting the divinylimidazolium crosslinker content. The resulting low density polyHIPE exhibits small spherical cells (~5 1m) connected by numerous small pores (~2 1m), confirming that the CO2/W HIPE templating methodology based on fluorinated glycosurfactants is a technique of choice for the 20 preparation of macroporous PILs. [less ▲]

Use of new surface active carbohydrate esters for the synthesis of polyhipes in supercritical CO2

Poster (2012, September 10)

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Synthesis of microsphere-loaded porous polymers by combining emulsion and dispersion polymerisations in supercritical carbon dioxide

in Chemical Communications (2012), 48(67), 8356-8358

Highly porous materials were produced by acrylamide polymerisation templated by supercritical CO2-in-water emulsions using new fluorinated glycosurfactants. Properties of the resulting polymer scaffolds ... [more ▼]

Highly porous materials were produced by acrylamide polymerisation templated by supercritical CO2-in-water emulsions using new fluorinated glycosurfactants. Properties of the resulting polymer scaffolds were tuned by performing dispersion polymerisations within their cavities filled with supercritical CO2. [less ▲]

Design of sugar-based surface active agents for emulsion polymerization in supercritical carbon dioxide

Conference (2012, May 10)

The use of aqueous dispersed media, such as emulsions, has many advantages over solution processes for chemical transformations and polymerization reactions, i.e. limited environmental impact, ease of ... [more ▼]

The use of aqueous dispersed media, such as emulsions, has many advantages over solution processes for chemical transformations and polymerization reactions, i.e. limited environmental impact, ease of products recovery and increased reaction rate. Emulsions are usually implemented from a water/organic solvent mixture in the presence of a surfactant. However, supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) (Pc =74 bars; Tc = 31°C) constitutes an interesting alternative to the traditional organic solvents in these heterogeneous systems because it is inexpensive, non-toxic, non-inflammable and environmentally friendlier. In this context, we developed a novel class of surfactants for the stabilization of H2O/scCO2 emulsions, i.e. fluorinated modified carbohydrates. The hydrophilic head of the surfactant consists in a sugar moiety whereas a fluorinated tail is specifically located in the scCO2 phase. The strategies for the synthesis of these carbohydrates esters rely on selective lipase-catalyzed modifications of sugars and on the versatile thiol-Michael addition reaction. The ability of these molecules to decrease the H2O/scCO2 interfacial tension and to stabilize such emulsions will be presented. Finally, high internal phase scCO2-in-water emulsion (HIPE) were prepared with these new surfactants and used as template for the acrylamide polymerization. The monomer is polymerized in the continuous aqueous phase before removing the CO2 droplets (at least 70 % of the total volume). The resulting permeable porous polymers, called polyHIPEs, exhibit highly interconnected voids (cfr SEM picture) and should be valuable in many applications including support for catalyst, filtration process, immobilization of proteins, etc. [less ▲]

Lipase catalysis and thiol-Michael addition: a relevant association for the synthesis of new surface active carbohydrate esters

in Carbohydrate Research (2011), 346(14), 2121-2125

A novel class of surface-active carbohydrate esters is prepared by a two-step strategy that takes advantage of the selectivity of enzymatic catalysis and the versatility of the thiol-Michael addition ... [more ▼]

A novel class of surface-active carbohydrate esters is prepared by a two-step strategy that takes advantage of the selectivity of enzymatic catalysis and the versatility of the thiol-Michael addition reaction. The surfactant performance of the produced aliphatic, fluorinated and silicon based sugar esters are evaluated by surface tension measurements. The novel thiolated mannose, made available in this work, appears as a powerful building block for the incorporation of unprotected sugar moieties into complex molecules. [less ▲]

Synthesis of novel carbohydrate surfactants by combination of enzymatic catalysis and thiol-Michael addition

Poster (2011, April 29)

Lipase-catalyzed synthesis of hemifluorinated glycosurfactants for water/supercritical CO2 emulsions

Poster (2010, October 14)