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

Electrically Conductive Gels Prepared from Syndiotactic Polystyrene and an Ionic Liquid

Syndiotactic polystyrene (SPS) physical gels containing a large amount of the ionic liquid 1-butylpyridinium bromide ([C₄py]Br) were systematically prepared and their physical properties were examined in detail. The gels had stable forms for a long time, having storage elastic modulus values of normal gels. They showed nearly the same values of the electrical conductivity (∼7 mS/cm) as those of the mixed solutions of [C₄py]Br, suggesting that the distribution of [C₄py]Br was uniform in these gels and that the charge transportation in these SPS gels was not interrupted by a three-dimensional network of SPS fibrils consisting of the SPS δ crystalline phases.

Monolithic polymeric aerogels with VOCs sorbent nanoporous crystalline and water sorbent amorphous phases

Monolithic syndiotactic polystyrene (s-PS) aerogels, formed by highly crystalline nanofibrils with a hydrophobic nanoporous-crystalline phase and a hydrophilic amorphous phase have been prepared and characterized. These aerogels, with a high degree of sulfonation of the amorphous phase and nearly negligible sulfonation of the crystalline phase, are obtained by treating physical gels exhibiting δ-clathrate form. With respect to unsulfonated nanoporous-crystalline polymeric aerogels, these new selectively sulfonated aerogels present the great advantage of a high water diffusivity and water uptake up to 600 wt %. This water uptake increases greatly the sorption kinetics of organic pollutants by the hydrophobic nanopores of the crystalline phase. For instance, for aerogels with a sulfonation of 10%, the diffusivity of a volatile organic compound (1,2-dichloroethane, DCE) from 10 ppm aqueous solution is more than 3 orders of magnitude higher than that for the unsulfonated aerogel and is very close to the DCE diffusivity in water.

Recent progress in the chemical modification of syndiotactic polystyrene

This review provides a snapshot of recent progress in the chemical modification of syndiotactic polystyrene.