(181w) Development of Novel Crosslinked Polymers with Intramolecular Pi-Pi Interactions

The ubiquitous nature of persistent organic pollutants (POP), such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), have gained great attention, and many efforts are being made to eliminate these contaminants from the environment. Capture of these pollutants using polymeric materials and their composites from the environment is one promising remediation strategy. In this research, novel aromatic monomers and crosslinkers based on polyphenolic compounds have been synthesized and studied, since we expect these functionalities to have high affinity for PCBs due to pi-pi stacking interactions.

The overall goal of this project was to develop novel crosslinked polymers and their composites that have high affinity towards PCBs and compare their binding properties as well as potential sensing properties. Novel monomers and crosslinkers were initially synthesized by acrylation of 4,4-dihydroxybiphenyl, 4-phenylphenol, 2-phenylphenol, and the acrylated forms were identified as 44BDA, 4PPMA, 2PPMA respectively. These monomers were characterized by various techniques, including differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) for their melting temperature and NMR to confirm their structure. Subsequently, crosslinked polymer films were synthesized using 4PPMA and 2PPMA as monomers and crosslinked with different amounts of 44BDA. These films were then characterized using swelling studies in different solvents as well as mechanical testing.