Hydrogen storage remains a major technological barrier to the widespread adoption of hydrogen as an energy source. Organic polymers offer one potential route to useful hydrogen storage materials. Recently, Frechet and his coworkers described a series of hypercrosslinked polymers with high surface area and studied their surface properties and hydrogen storage capacities. McKeown and his coworkers studied a class of materials termed Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosity (PIMs) which are also based on a "hypercrosslinked" concept. We enchained N-substituted maleimide and functionalized stilbene alternating copolymers into a "hypercrosslinked system" to achieve high rigidity, high surface areas, high aromatic content and good thermal stability. Hypercrosslinked copolymers of N-(3-methylphenyl)maleimide (3MPMI), 4-methyl stilbene (4MSTBB), vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC) and divinyl benzene (DVB) were synthesized. Scanning electron micrographs (SEM) show the copolymers are porous and some examples have shown surface areas over 1200 m²/g. We have also found the incorporation of 3MPMI and 4MSTBB improves the thermal stability and raises the glass transition temperature of the copolymer. However, the incorporation of 3MPMI and 4MSTBB decreases the hypercrosslinking density and therefore causes a decrease in the copolymer surface area. The systematic study of styrene (STR) – vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC) – divinyl benzene (DVB) networks indicates that a low density of chloromethyl groups leads to a decrease in surface area. Therefore, we are continuing to investigate other monomers, such as N-substituted maleimide and functionalized stilbene containing chloromethyl groups, in order to enhance thermal stability while maintaining surface area. In order to increase the enthalpy of hydrogen adsorption and thus raise the temperature of hydrogen storage, the monomer N,N-dimethyl-N',N'-diethyl-4,4'-diaminostilbene (4,4'DASTB-3MPMI) which contains electron donating groups was incorporated into hypercrosslinked polymer particles. Hypercrosslinked polymer (4,4'DASTB-3MPMI)1.0(VBC)98.5(DVB).50 exhibits a surface area of 3257 m²/g. / Master of Science

This study addresses the critical environmental issue of elevated nitrate levels in water bodies, primarily due to excessive use of nitrogenous fertilizers and improper waste disposal. It focuses on reducing nitrate concentrations in polluted water to permissible levels through the effectiveness of hybrid materials in nitrate adsorption. We synthesized nine amino-functionalized adsorbents using grafting and sol-gel techniques. Batch adsorption tests confirmed the high nitrate adsorption capacities of these adsorbents, with sol-gel materials showing the highest efficiency due to their abundant amino group contents. Among these, the surfactant-free, sol-gel adsorbent was the most effective, combining ease of synthesis with cost-efficiency. Our study of temperature dependence revealed optimal nitrate removal at ambient conditions and decreased capacity at higher temperatures. These adsorbents remained highly efficient over five adsorption/regeneration cycles. This research significantly advances efficient nitrate removal methods, presenting a promising approach for environmental remediation.

Master of Science / Department of Grain Science and Industry / Xiuzhi Susan Sun / Soybean oil-based resin for transparent flexible coating applications were formulated by dihydroxyl soybean oil (DSO) with commercial epoxy monomers (i.e., epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) and 3,4-epoxycyclohexylmethyl-3,4-epoxycyclohexanecarboxylate (ECHM)). The resin was formed to thermoset polymers using cationic ring-opening photopolymerization. The ether crosslinking and post-polymerization of the polymeric network were observed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Thermal properties of the bio-based coating materials and their copolymerization behaviors were examined using a differential scanning calorimetry and a thermogravimetric analyzer. Crosslink density and molecular weight between crosslink were obtained from dynamic mechanical analysis. ECHM/DSO (1: 1.43 weight ratio) films showed the highest elongation at break (49.2 %) with a tensile strength of 13.7 MPa. After 2 months storage, the elongation at break and tensile strength of films were 32 % and 15.1 MPa, respectively. ESO/DSO films (w/w ratios of 1:0.1, 1:0.15, and 1:0.2) exhibited stable flexibility around 11-13 % of elongations at break without significant reductions of tensile strengths (2.5 to 4.4 MPa) during 2-months shelf life. Optical transparencies of the films were comparable to commercial glass and polymers, and water uptake properties (0.72 and 2.83%) were significantly low.

Vascular networks are required to support the formation and function of three-dimensional tissues. Biodegradable scaffolds are being considered in order to promote vascularization where natural regeneration of lost or destroyed vascular networks fails. Particularly; composite materials are expected to fulfill the complex demands of a patient's body to support wound healing. Microbial biopolyesters are being regarded as such second and third generation biomaterials. Methylobacterium extorquens is one of several microorganisms that should be considered for the production of advanced polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). M. extorquens displays a distinct advantage in that it is able to utilize methanol as an inexpensive substrate for growth and biopolyester production. The design of functionalized PHAs, which would be made of both saturated short-chain-length (scl, C [less than or equal to] 5) and unsaturated medium-chain-length (mcl, 6 [less than or equal to] C [less than or equal to] 14) monomeric units, aimed at combining desirable material properties of inert scl/mcl-PHAs with those of functionalized mcl-PHAs. By independently inserting the phaC1 or the phaC2 gene from Pseudomonas fluorescens GK13, recombinant M. extorquens strains were obtained which were capable of producing PHAs containing C-C double bonds. A fermentation process was developed to obtain gram quantities of biopolyesters employing the recombinant M. extorquens ATCC 55366 strain which harbored the phaC2 gene of P. fluorescens GK13, the better one of the two strains at incorporating unsaturated monomeric units. The PHAs produced were found in a blend of scl-PHAs and functionalized scl/mcl-PHAs (4 [less than or equal to] C [less than or equal to] 6), which were the products of the native and of the recombinant PHA synthase, respectively. Thermo-mechanical analysis confirmed that the functionalized scl/mcl-PHAs exhibited the desirable material properties expected. This project contributed to current research on polyhydroxyalkanoates at different levels. The terminal double bonds of the functionalized scl/mcl-PHAs are amenable to chemical modifications and could be transformed into reactive functional groups for covalently linking other biomacromolecules. It is anticipated that these biopolyesters will be utilized as tissue engineering materials in the future, due to their functionality and thermo-mechanical properties.

Organic semiconductors are widely studied as potential active components for consumer electronics due largely to their easily tuned properties and the promise of lower-cost solution-based processing technology. Imide-functionalized organic small molecule compounds have been one of the more important and studied organic semiconductors. However, very few imide-functionalized conjugated polymers have been reported in the literature. The body of this dissertation focuses on the synthesis, structure-property and device studies of imide-functionalized conjugated polymers. Reasons for choosing arylene imides as polymer building blocks include: a) they impart low-lying LUMOs to polymers, allowing band-gap engineering through choice of comonomers with variable electron-donating ability; b) imide-nitrogens provide points to attach side chains to manipulate solubility and solid-state packing; c) they are easily prepared. Structure-property studies include electrochemical measurements, UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), x-ray diffraction, and in some cases evaluation as active components in field-effect transistors (OFETs) and photovoltaic devices (PVDs). The published method to synthesize 3,6-dibromo-pyromellitic bisimides (PMBI) was streamlined and poly(phenylene ethynylene)s (PPEs) with variable band gaps were prepared from them (Chapter 2). As noted in all the chapters, electrochemical and optical measurements reveal that the LUMO of the polymers is indeed dictated by the arylene imide, while the HOMO, and therefore the optical energy gap is controlled through varying the electron donor monomer. Intramolecular hydrogen bonding was employed for increasing backbone coplanarity and therefore the polymer could have higher conjugation. One of these polymers demonstrated the narrowest band gap (1.50 eV) for any published PPE. Chapter 3 describes the first published conjugated copolymers from naphthalene bisimides (NBI), here using thiophene-based comonomers as donor units. Polymers with high molecular weight and decent solubility were obtained by choosing appropriate side chains. The optical energy gaps could be tuned across the visible and into the near IR. Preliminary OFET studies revealed electron mobility as high as ~0.01 cm2/Vs. One low band gap polymer provided OFETs with electron mobility of ~0.04 cm2/Vs and hole mobility of ~0.003 cm2/Vs, which is also among the highest mobilities of ambipolar polymeric semiconductors. Using the same approach as in Chapter 3, phthalimide-based monomers were incorporated into polymer backbones for developing new high performance p-type polymer semiconductors for OFETs and PVDs (Chapter 4). Some analogues based on benzothiadiazole, PMBI, and thiophene imides as acceptors were prepared for comparison. Again, high molecular weight, soluble polymers with band gaps spanning the visible and into the near IR were obtained. OFETs from one of the polymers yielded hole mobility ~0.3 cm2/Vs under ambient atmosphere without post-processing thermal annealing, which places it squarely within the state-of-the-art for conjugated polymers. Due to the high mobility and low band gap, this polymer also leads to PVDs with moderately good power conversion efficiency (PCE: ~2%).

<p> </p><p>A chemoselective catalyst is preferred in a chemical reaction where protecting groups otherwise are needed. The two lipases <em>Candida antarctica </em>lipase B and <em>Rhizomucor miehei</em> lipase showed large chemoselectivity ratios, defined as (<em>k_cat</em>/<em>K</em>_M)_OH/ (<em>k_cat</em>/<em>K</em>_M)_SH, in a transacylation reaction with ethyl octanoate as acyl donor and hexanol or hexanethiol as acyl acceptor (<strong>paper I</strong>). The chemoselectivity ratio of the uncatalyzed reaction was 120 in favour of the alcohol. Compared to the uncatalyzed reaction, the chemoselectivity was 730 times higher for <em>Candida antarctica </em>lipase B and ten times higher for <em>Rhizomucor miehei</em> lipase. The <em>K</em>_M towards the thiol was more than two orders of magnitude higher than the <em>K</em>_M towards the corresponding alcohol. This was the dominating contribution to the high chemoselectivity displayed by the two lipases. In a novel approach, <em>Candida antarctica </em>lipase B was used as catalyst for enzymatic synthesis of thiol-functionalized polyesters in a one-pot reaction without using protecting groups (<strong>paper II</strong>). Poly(e-caprolactone) with a free thiol at one of the ends was synthesized in an enzymatic ring-opening polymerization initiated with mercaptoethanol or terminated with either 3-mercaptopropionic acid or g-thiobutyrolactone.</p><p> </p>

The outstanding properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have stimulated a large number of researches to explore the potential of using them as reinforcement in polymer composites. Although many studies have reported the enlighten improvement of the materials properties by using CNTs as reinforcement, there are no promising and optimal results have been concluded to date. This thesis aims at studying the mechanical properties on thermoset polymer, Epoxy, by employing a small amount of carbon nanotubes as reinforcement. Two different types of nanotube-based composites are prepared i.e. a raw single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) composites and a functionalized single-walled carbon nanotube (FSWNT) composite. Chemical functionalization on SWNTs with carboxyl functional group (COOH) aims at modifying the end caps of nanotubes, so to provide covalent bonding of SWNTs to the polymer matrix during manufacturing of composite systems. Different weight percentages (wt %) of each type of SWNTs are added into the composite system. Standard test methods are performed on these nanotube composite systems and satisfactory results were achieved when the weight percentages of both types of SWNTs increased. Through the comparison between two systems (raw SWNTs and FSWNTs), the FSWNT reinforced composite is found to provide a better improvement on the mechanical properties as compared with the SWNT reinforced system. The integrity of both composite systems is examined by using Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM). The SEM images of the composites indicated the derivation in wetting and bonding between the nanotubes (both SWNTs and FSWNTs) and epoxy resin, and the FSWNTs provide an eminent dispersion when compared with the SWNTs in the composite system. Moreover, thermal testings are employed to further investigate the interfacial interaction between the nanotubes and the polymer matrix. xiv Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations are also carried out to investigate the structural change of a SWNT under different temperature-controlled manufacturing environments. Swivel of the SWNT was noticed as the temperature increased. Such alteration in structure form can provide physical interlocking between SWNT and its surrounding polymer system. Thus, its overall mechanical and thermal properties can be enhanced.

La production de membranes échangeuses de protons (PEM) robustes et présentant une conductivité élevée est essentielle pour le développement à grande échelle de dispositifs de stockage et de conversion de l’énergie tels que les piles à combustible (PEMFC) et les électrolyseurs (PEMWE). Ces travaux de thèse portent sur la préparation et la caractérisation de membranes composites préparées à partir d’acide perfluorosulfonique, à chaine latérale courte (SSC-PFSA), de type Aquivion®, et de fibres de polymères obtenues par filage électrostatique. Cette dernière technique permet de préparer des matériaux fibreux à porosité élevée, caractérisés par la présence de fibres de diamètres sub-micrométriques, et pouvant être utilisés comme renfort mécanique des membranes ionomères. Le polysulfone a été retenu comme constituant des fibres étant donné ses stabilités mécanique et chimique élevées d’une part et pour la possibilité de modifier ses propriétés physico-chimiques par fonctionnalisation, d’autre part. Ces membranes comportant une distribution homogène des nanofibres dans toute leur épaisseur ont été préparées à partir d’un procédé d’imprégnation Des membranes renforcées, Aquivion®-PSU, basées sur un PFSA dont le poids équivalent (EW) varie entre 700 et 870 g.mol-1 et dont la concentration massique de fibres varie entre 5 et 18 %, ont été préparées. Les membranes renforcées sont caractérisées par des faibles gonflements volumique et surfacique et par une rigidité plus élevée en comparaison des membranes non renforcées de même EW. La perméabilité a l’hydrogène a engluement été réduite. Les améliorations en terme de propriétés mécaniques et dimensionnelles n’ont pas amené à une diminution significatif de la conductivité protonique, qui été maintenue aux mêmes valeurs des membranes non renforcée. Les assemblage membrane-électrode (AME) préparés à partir de ces membranes composites ont montré des caractéristiques i/V intéressantes et prometteuses (1.76 V à 2 A/cm²).Des Polysulfones fonctionnalisés avec le 1,2,3 triazole portant des groupements alkyle ou aryle ont été préparés par une voie de synthèse rapide et a haute rendement assistée par micro-ondes. Les nanofibres electrofilées de PSU fonctionnalisé avec le 4-ethyl-1,2,3-triazole (PSUT), avec un degré de fonctionnalisation en espèce triazole de 0.3 et 0.9 par unité répétitive de PSUT ont été intégrées à une matrice Aquivion®. L’objectif de ces travaux est d’améliorer la stabilité mécanique des membranes composites à partir des interactions acido-basiques PFSA-PSUT (réticulation ionique). Les membranes Aquivion®-PSUT sont caractérisées par une rigidité, une dureté et une ductilité plus élevées en comparaison des membranes Aquivion® renforcées par les fibres de PSU non fonctionnalisées. Une diminution du gonflement volumique et surfacique a également été observée sans perte de la conductivité jusqu’à une concentration massique de fibres de 12 %. Les AME préparés à partir de membranes renforcées Aquivion®-PSUT (12%) sont caractérisés par les mêmes propriétés courant/tension, en monocellule de pile à combustible fonctionnant à 80 °C et 100 % d’humidité relative, que ceux préparés à partir d’Aquivion®. / The preparation of highly proton conducting and durable proton exchange membranes (PEM) for low temperature fuel cells (PEMFC) and electrolysers (PEMWE) is crucial for the large scale application of these energy conversion/storage devices. This PhD thesis focuses on the preparation and characterisation of composite membranes based on highly conducting Aquivion® short side chain perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) and polymer fibres obtained by electrospinning. This technique allows the preparation of highly porous mats of fibres with sub-micrometric diameters that can act as an efficient mechanical reinforcement for ionomer membranes. The chosen polymer is the mechanically robust and chemically stable polysulfone (PSU), which can also been functionalised to modify its physico-chemical properties. Reinforced PEM with fibres homogeneously dispersed through the entire membrane cross-section have been realised by a fast and efficient impregnation process.Aquivion®-PSU reinforced membranes based on PFSA with equivalent weight (EW) ranging from 700 to 870 g mol-1 and fibre loading ranging from 5 to 18 wt% have been prepared. They showed reduced volume and area swelling and higher stiffness with respect to non-reinforced membranes with the same EW. The hydrogen crossover was also reduced. The improvement in mechanical and dimensional properties was not detrimental for the in-plane proton conductivity that was kept at the same value of non-reinforced membranes. Membrane-electrode assemblies (MEA) based on these composite PEM show promising i/V characteristics in PEMWE (1.76 V at 2 A cm-2).Polysulfones functionalised with 1,2,3-triazole bearing alkyl and aryl ring substituents have been synthesized by a fast and high-yield chemical route involving the azide-alkyne cycloaddition reaction assisted by microwaves as last step. Electrospun nanofibers of polysulfone functionalised with 4-epthyl-1,2,3-triazole (PSUT) with a degree of functionalisation of 0.3 and 0.9 triazole moiety per PSUT repeat unit have been embedded into the Aquivion® matrix. The aim of this study was to further improve the mechanical properties of the membrane by PFSA-PSUT acid-base interactions (ionic crosslinking). Aquivion®-PSUT membranes showed enhanced mechanical stiffness, toughness and ductility with respect to Aquivion® membranes reinforced with the non-functionalised polymer with the same EW and fibre loading. Reduced volume and area swelling have also been observed with no drop of proton conductivity until a fibre loading of (12 wt%). MEA based on Aquivion®-PSUT reinforced membrane with 12 wt% fibre loading showed identical fuel cell polarisation curve with respect to a MEA based on Aquivion® at 80 °C and 100 % of relative humidity (RH).

Neste trabalho foi realizada a funcionalização de grafite sem prévio tratamento em condições de Fridel-Crafts. Considerando que a grafite não possui hidrogênio em sua estrutura, não se observa uma reação de substituição eletrofílica. Por outro lado, o trabalho mostra o papel da umidade presente no grafite na reação de funcionalização. Dessa forma, foi proposto um mecanismo para a reação com a participação da água adsorvida na grafite estabilizando o carbocátion formado. O grafite funcionalizado obtido na reação foi utilizado como material eletródico. Para a reação de funcionalização, quatro moléculas foram utilizadas: ácido ferrocenomonocarboxílico, cloreto de 4-nitrobenzoíla, cloreto de 3,5-dinitrobenzoíla e ácido 3,4-dinitrobenzóico. Para o estudo das condições ótimas da reação, utilizou-se diferentes potências de radiação no reator de micro-ondas, sendo que a extensão da funcionalização mostrou-se sensível à variação deste parâmetro. Para a caracterização dos materiais, utilizou-se voltametria cíclica e análise térmica (TG e DTA). Resultados de infravermelho e Ramam são apresentados no Apêndice A. Os resultados eletroquímicos mostraram que os materiais funcionalizados em maiores potências apresentaram maior corrente Faradaica, mas ao mesmo tempo, o material obtido foi mais resistivo. A diferença de potencial relacionada ao processo redox do ferroceno aumentou conforme a extensão da funcionalização, uma vez que um sobrepotencial é necessário devido ao fluxo iônico (para a manutenção da eletroneutralidade) relativo ao número de espécies envolvidas. Os resultados eletroquímicos também indicaram que a funcionalização do grafite com os nitro compostos foi baixa. A análise térmica evidenciou que a reação de funcionalização do grafite com o ferroceno resultou em materiais com 15% a 20% (m/m) de material ligado ao grafite. Os materiais funcionalizados a maiores potências apresentaram maior massa ligada ao grafite. A funcionalização com os nitro compostos resultou em materiais com menos de 3% (m/m) de composto ligado ao grafite. Os resultados das duas técnicas mostraram coerência na análise da extensão da funcionalização. O material funcionalizado com o ácido ferrocenomonocarboxilico foi o que apresentou os melhores resultados e propõe-se uma explicação para tal baseado no mecanismo de reação sugerido. Com o objetivo de melhor elucidar o mecanismo da reação, foram realizadas algumas reações na ausência de alguns reagentes. Por exemplo, quando tenta-se funcionalizar o material sem a presença de cloreto de alumínio ou sem a umidade natural do grafite, a reação não ocorre. / In this work natural graphite functionalization in Fridel-Crafts conditions is performed using a one-step microwave assisted reaction. Since there is no hydrogen in graphite structure, it is not possible to observe electrophilic substitution. On the other hand this work shows the role of the moisture present on graphite in the functionalization reaction under this condition. Therefore, a reaction mechanism with the participation of the water naturally adsorbed on graphite stabilizing the formed carbocation has been suggested. After the reaction, the functionalized graphite was used as electrode material. Four molecules were used to functionalize graphite: Ferrocene monocarboxylic acid, 4-nitrobenzoyl chloride, 3,5-dinitrobenzoyl chloride and 3,4-dinitrobenzoic acid. To study the optimal conditions of the reaction, the microwave radiation power was varied and the extent of the functionalization on graphite was sensitive to this parameter. Two techniques were used to characterize the materials, cyclic voltammetry and thermal analysis (TG and DTA). IR and Raman data are shown in appendix A. Electrochemical results have shown that the materials functionalized at higher microwave radiation power have higher Faradaic current, but are more resistive. The potential difference between the peaks of the redox process of ferrocene increased with the extent of functionalization. This occurs because an overpotencial is needed to compensate the ionic flux (in order to maintain the electroneutrality) related to the number of species involved. The electrochemical results also indicated that the extent of functionalization of graphite with the nitro compounds was low. The thermal analysis have shown that the functionalization of graphite with ferrocene lead to values between 15% to 20% (m/m) of compound in the material. The materials functionalized at higher microwave radiation power presented higher relative mass in the material. The reaction with the nitro compounds lead to less than 3% (m/m) of compound in the final material. The results of both techniques were coherent about the extent of functionalization. The material functionalized with ferrocene monocarboxylic acid showed the best results, and an explanation for that based on the reaction mechanism is suggested. In order to elucidate the reaction mechanism, some experiments were realized in absent of some reagents. When the reaction were carried out without aluminum chloride or with dried graphite, the reaction has not occurred.

Ces travaux de thèse portent sur la synthèse de nouveaux polymères hydrosolubles fonctionnalisés à des fins de complexation des lanthanides et/ou des actinides contenus dans des solutions de dissolution de minerai ou de recyclage.La synthèse d'un nouveau monomère fonctionnalisé par un motif carbamoylméthylphosphonate (cmp) nommé CPAAm6C a été réalisée. L'homopolymérisation par voie radicalaire conventionnelle de ce monomère a ensuite conduit à un matériau à la fois thermosensible et complexant. La présence d'une basse température critique de solution (ou LCST, généralement approximée avec la température de point de trouble) pourrait être valorisée dans le développement d'un procédé de séparation consistant dans un premier temps à complexer les cations en solution aqueuse (température inférieure à la LCST) puis à séparer les complexes polymères/cations formés à l'aide d'une étape de microfiltration (température supérieure à la LCST).Par hydrolyse de la fonction cmp, des polymères porteurs de fonctions acide carbamoylméthylphosphonique ont par ailleurs été préparés et caractérisés : le mhP(CPAAm6C) (monoacide) et hPCPAAm6C (diacide). L'étude de la sorption du gadolinium (lanthanide cible) sur les polymères fonctionnalisés P(CPAAm6C) et hP(CPAAm6C) en fonction de différentes conditions opératoires (concentration de gadolinium ou de polymère, pH, force ionique, température, composition des solutions) a permis de montrer que la sorption impliquait des mécanismes de coordination et/ou d'échange d'ions. Le caractère sélectif des polymères vis-à-vis du gadolinium, du thorium ou de l'uranium a également été mis en évidence. / The work reported in this manuscript deals with the synthesis of new functionalized water-soluble polymers with complexing properties towards lanthanides and/or actinides found in solutions of dissolution or recycling processes.The synthesis of a new functionalized monomer with a carbamoylmethylphosphonate (cmp) moiety, namely the CPAAm6C, was reported. Then, radical homopolymerisation of CPAAm6C was carried out, leading to material combining both thermosensitive and complexing properties. The presence of a lower critical solution temperature (LCST, generally approximated with the cloud point temperature) could be valorized in the development of a separation process in two steps consisting in first complexing the cations in aqueous solution (at a temperature below the cloud point) and then, in a second step, in separating the polymer/cations complexes using microfiltration (at a temperature above the cloud point).Hydrolysis of the cmp group was also considered and led to polymers bearing carbamoylmethylphosphonic acid groups: mhPCAAm6C(CPAAm6C) (monoacid) and hPCPAAm6C (diacid).The study of the sorption of gadolinium (targeted lanthanide) on P(CPAAm6C) and hP(CPAAm6C) functionalized polymers as a function of different operating conditions (concentration of lanthanide or polymer, pH, ionic strength, temperature, composition of the solution) allowed to provide information on the sorption mechanisms (coordination and ion exchange). Selectivity of the polymers toward gadolinium, thorium or uranium was also investigated.