Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Synthesis of ionic liquids copolymerize styrene and their nucleation, carbon dioxide sorption effect on supercritical carbon dioxide microcellular foaming

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Polymer Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Aiming to prepare polystyrene microcellular foam with improved foam morphology and high thermal stability, ionic liquids which have been well demonstrated to possess high carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption capacity were introduced into polystyrene by copolymerization of styrene and polymerizable ionic liquids, i.e., vinylbenzyl trimethyl ammonium fluoroborate ([VBTMA][BF4]) and vinylbenzyl trimethyl ammonium hexafluorophosphate ([VBTMA][PF6]), Abbr. ILs). These copolymers showed higher glass transition temperature (Tg) and high supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) solubility, based on which foams with smaller cell size, higher cell density, and higher thermal stability were prepared by the microcellular foaming using scCO2 as blowing agent. The morphology of the resultant foams highly depended on the foaming temperature, ionic liquid type and content. Compared to [VBTMA][BF4]-St foam, [VBTMA][PF6]-St have higher CO2 absorption and glass-transition temperature, making it exhibit superior cell morphology. This work demonstrates that the introduction of ionic liquids can benefit the morphology control and thermal stability of polymeric foams and hopefully provides a promising method for the design and preparation of polymeric foams with high performance.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Martini JE, Waldman FA, Sud NP (1982) The production and analysis of microcellular thermoplastic foams. SPE ANTEC Tech Papers 28:674–676

    Google Scholar 

  2. Martini JE, Sud NP, Waldman FA (1984) Microcellular closed cell foam and their method of manufacture. US Patent: 4473665, Sep. 25

  3. Martini JE (1981) The production and analysis of microcellular foam. S.M. Thesis, Dept. Mech. Eng., MIT, Cambridge MA

  4. Waldman FA (1982) The processing of microcellular foam. S.M. Thesis, Dept. Mech. Eng., MIT, Cambridge MA

  5. Bahrambeygi H, Sabetzadeh N, Rabbi A, Nasouri K, Shoushtari AM, Babaei MR (2013) Nanofibers (PU and PAN) and nanoparticles (Nanoclay and MWNTs) simultaneous effects on polyurethane foam sound absorption. J Polym Res 20(2):1–10

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Torres-Sánchez C, Corney J (2009) Identification of formation stages in a polymeric foam customised by sonication via electrical resistivity measurements. J Polym Res 16(5):461–470

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Yu J, He JS (2010) Fundamental issues for microfoaming polymers with supercritical CO2 technology. Sci Sin Chim 40(1):1–15

    Google Scholar 

  8. Jacobs Leon JM, Kemmere Maartje F, Keurentjes Jos TF (2008) Sustainable polymer foaming using high pressure carbon dioxide: a review on fundamentals, processes and applications. Green Chem 10:731–738

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Yang JT, Sang Y, Chen F, Fei ZD, Zhong MQ (2012) Synthesis of silica particles grafted with poly (ionic liquid) and their nucleation effect on microcellular foaming of polystyrene using supercritical carbon dioxide. J Supercrit Fluids 62:197–203

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Chen LM, Ozisik R, Schadler LS (2010) The influence of carbon nanotube aspect ratio on the foam morphology of MWNT/PMMA nanocomposite foams. Polymer 1(11):2368–2375

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Zhang SJ, Yuan XL, Chen YH, Zhang XP (2005) Solubilities of CO2 in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate and 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidium lactate at elevated pressures. J Chem Eng Data 50:1582–1585

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Zhang SJ, Chen YH, Ren Rex XF, Zhang YQ, Zhang JM, Zhang XP (2005) Solubility of CO2 in sulfonate ionic liquids at high pressure. J Chem Eng Data 50:230–233

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Anthony JL, Anderson JL, Magin EJ, Brennecke JF (2005) Anion effects on gas solubility in ionic liquids. J Phys Chem B 109:6366–6374

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Anthony JL, Maginn EJ, Brennecke JF (2002) Solubilities and thermodynamic properties of gases in the ionic liquid 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate. J Phys Chem B 106:7315–7320

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Zhang JM, Zhang SJ, Dong K, Zhang YQ, Shen YQ, Lv XM (2006) Supported absorption of CO2 by tetrabutylphosphonium amino acid ionic liquids. Chem Eur J 12:4021–4026

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Yuan XL, Zhang SJ, Liu J, Lu XM (2007) Solubilities of CO2 in hydroxyl ammonium ionic liquids at elevated pressures. Fluid Phase Equilib 257:195–200

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Li BX, Yu J, Ling YS, Zhang J, He JS (2010) Effect of [C14MIM]Br ionic liquid on foaming behavior of polypropylene by supercritical CO2. Chem J Chin Univ 31(5):861–863

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Tong FF, Xu H, Yu J, Wen LX, Zhang J, He JS (2012) Foaming behavior of compatible PMMA/[C12MIM][PF6] system by supercritical CO2. Chem J Chin Univ 33(1):172–175

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50903070, 51273178 and 21274131), the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (LY12E03004), the Science and Technology Innovative Research Team of Zhejiang Province (No.2009R50010), and the Qianjiang Talent Project of Zhejiang Province of China (2010R10018).

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, People’s Republic of China

    Zhicai He, Mingqiang Zhong & Jintao Yang

  2. Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, School of Pharmaceutical and Chemical Engineering, Taizhou University, Jiaojiang, 318000, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China

    Zhicai He

Authors
  1. Zhicai He
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mingqiang Zhong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jintao Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jintao Yang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

He, Z., Zhong, M. & Yang, J. Synthesis of ionic liquids copolymerize styrene and their nucleation, carbon dioxide sorption effect on supercritical carbon dioxide microcellular foaming. J Polym Res 22, 22 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-015-0667-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-015-0667-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation