Distillation technology involves capital- and energy-intensive processes for light olefin/paraffin separation. Global demand for propylene has already exceeded 110 million tons per year. Therefore, distillation processes used for the separation of C3H6/C3H8 should be replaced or debottlenecked with more efficient and cost-effective technology. In the last three decades, membrane-based gas separation processes have successfully emerged, thus competing with conventional separation processes. Membranes potentially offer lower capital investment and operation cost than distillation columns. In this study, the use of advanced membrane materials for C3H6/C3H8 separation was investigated. Three novel triptycene-based polyimides were synthesized by Dr. Bader Ghanem from one diamine monomer, namely 2,6-dihydroxy-3,7-diaminotriptycene (DTA1-OH), and three dianhydride monomers, (i) non-substituted triptycene tetracarboxylic dianhydride (TDA), (ii) 9,10-dimethyltriptycene tetracarboxylic dianhydride (TDA1) and (iii) 9,10-iso-propyltriptycene tetracarboxylic dianhydride (TDAi3). It is important to note that polyimide membranes based on triptycene dianhydrides and triptycene diamines have never been reported in the literature before. Pure-gas permeability coefficients of He, H2, N2, O2, CO2, CH4, C3H6, and C3H8 were determined at 2 bar and 35 °C. Furthermore, C3H6 and C3H8 gas sorption isotherms were measured by gravimetric techniques, and experimental data were collected up to 7 bar at 35 °C. TDA-DAT1-OH, TDA1-DAT1-OH, TDAi3-DAT1-OH exhibited C3H6 permeability of 12.1, 16.6, and 5.64 Barrer with pure-gas C3H6/C3H8 selectivity of 35.7, 29.6, and 32.8 respectively. These properties exceeded the 2003 pure-gas upper bound for C3H6/C3H8. The BET surface area increased in the order of TDA-DAT1-OH (437 m2/g) < TDAi3-DAT1-OH (467 m2/g) < TDA1-DAT1-OH (557 m2/g). The frecational free volume (FFV) increased in the order of TDAi3-DAT1-OH (0.25) < TDA-DAT1-OH (0.28) < TDA1-DAT1-OH (0.30). TDA1-DAT1-OH (109 μm) showed less and slower physical aging than TDA-DAT1-OH (94 μm) after 60 days, where the O2 and CO2 permeability of both polyimides decreased by about 40% and 69%, respectively. After 30 days, TDAi3-DAT1-OH displayed the highest selectivity gain relative to its counterparts and exceeded the 2008 upper bound for CO2/CH4. TDA1-DAT1-OH exhibited 7-fold higher C3H6 permeability coupled with almost 3-fold higher C3H6/C3H8 selectivity relative to a previously reported commercial polyphenylene oxide (PPO) membrane.

This dissertation addresses the rational design of intrinsically microporous solutionprocessable polyimides and ladder polymers for highly permeable and highly selective gas transport in cornerstone applications of membrane-based gas separation – that is, air enrichment, hydrogen recovery and natural gas sweetening. By virtue of rigid and contorted chains that pack inefficiently in the solid state, polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIMs) have the potential to unite the solution-processability, mechanical flexibility and organic tunability of commercially relevant polymers with the microporosity characteristics of porous crystalline materials. The performance enhancements of PIMs over conventional low-free-volume polymers have been primarily permeability-driven, compromising the selectivity essential to commercial viability. An approach to unite high permeability with high selectivity for performance transcending the state-of-the-art in air and hydrogen separations was demonstrated via a fused-ring integration of a three-dimensional, shape persistent triptycene moiety optimally substituted with short, branched isopropyl chains at the 9,10-bridgeheads into a highly inflexible backbone. The resulting polymers exhibited selectivities (i.e., O2/N2, H2/N2, H2/CH4) similar to or higher than commercial materials matched with permeabilities up to three hundred times higher. However, the intra-chain rigidity central to such conventional PIM-design principles was not a singular solution to suppression of CO2-induced plasticization in CO2/CH4 mixedgas separations. Plasticization diminishes the sieving capacity of the membrane, resulting in costly hydrocarbon losses that have significantly limited the commercialization of new polymers. Unexpectedly, the most permeable and selective PIMs designed for air and hydrogen separations strongly plasticized in 50:50 CO2/CH4 mixtures, enduring up to three-fold increases in mixed-gas CH4 permeability by 30 bar and strong drops in selectivity. Instead, a paradigm shift emphasizing inter-chain rigidity was demonstrated for the PIM-type polyimides via introduction of a flexible diamine functionalized with hydroxyl groups. Intra-chain flexibility may permit short-range coplanarization of backbone segments which facilitates inter-chain interactions likely comprising charge transfer complexes over the N-phenyl imide bond and hydrogen bonding. Relative to commercial cellulose acetate membranes at a representative 10 bar CO2 partial pressure, the resulting polyimide exhibited two-fold increases in mixed-gas CO2/CH4 selectivity (~50) concurrent with nearly 10-fold higher CO2 gas permeability. Similar design principles were drawn for ladder polymers.

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No description available.

The use of polymeric membranes for natural gas separation has rapidly increased during the past three decades, particularly for carbon dioxide separation from natural gas. Another valuable application is the separation of heavy hydrocarbons from methane (fuel gas conditioning), more importantly for remote area and off-shore applications. A new potential polymeric membrane that might be utilized for natural gas separations is a Tröger’s base ladder polymer (PIM-Trip-TB-2). This glassy polymeric membrane was synthesized by the polymerization reaction of 9, 10-dimethyl-2,6 (7) diaminotriptycene with dimethoxymethane. In this research, the polymer was selected due to its high surface area and highly interconnected microporous structure. Sorption isotherms of nitrogen (N2), oxygen (O¬2), methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), ethane (C2H6), propane (C3H8), and n-butane (n-C4H10) were measured at 35 °C over a range of pressures using a Hiden Intelligent Gravimetric Analyzer, IGA. The more condensable gases (C2H6, CO2, C3H8, and n-C4H10) showed high solubility due to their high affinity to the polymer matrix. The permeation coefficients were determined for various gases at 35 °C and pressure difference of 5 bar via the constant-pressure/variable-volume method. The PIM-Trip-TB-2 film exhibited high performance for several high-impact applications, such as O2/N2, H2/N2 and H2/CH4. Also, physical aging for several gases was examined by measuring the permeability coefficients at different periods of time. Moreover, a series of mixed-gas permeation tests was performed using 2 vol.% n-C4H10/98 vol.% CH4 and the results showed similar transport characteristics to other microporous polymers with pores of less than 2 nm. The work performed in this research suggested that PIM-Trip-TB-2 is suitable for the separation of: (i) higher hydrocarbons from methane and (ii) small, non-condensable gases such as O2/N2 and H2/CH4.

Segmented copolymers are important polymers with attractive properties and wide applications. In this dissertation, segmented polyurethanes containing triptycene units and multiblock copolymers containing poly(arylene ether sulfone) (PAES) and poly(1,4-cyclohexyldimethylene terephthalate) (PCT) segments were synthesized and systematically studied. Investigation of the influence of the bulky triptycene structure on the morphologies and properties of segmented polyurethanes was carried out by using triptycene-1,4-hydroquinone bis(2-hydroxyethyl)ether (TD) as the chain extender. Segmented polyurethanes based on poly(tetramethylene glycol) (PTMG) of 1000 g/mol were synthesized using a two-step polymerization procedure. Hydroquinone bis(2-hydroxyethyl)ether (HQEE) was used for the purpose of comparison. Hard segments with different bulkiness and flexibility were prepared with hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) and 4,4'-methylenebis(phenyl isocyanate) (MDI), and HQEE or TD as chain extenders. The incorporation of bulky TD and less flexible MDI significantly inhibited hydrogen bonding based on the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) results. In addition, the microphase separation was also disturbed by the bulky and less flexible hard segments with confirmation from tapping mode atomic force microscopy (AFM) and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The flexible HDI can be used to overcome the bulkiness of triptycene, promote microphase separation, and enhance mechanical properties. Novel PTMG based soft segments containing triptycene units were also prepared with number average molecular weight (Mn) around 2500 g/mol. Then this soft segment was reacted with MDI and HQEE to prepare segmented polyurethanes. Soft segments such as hydroquinone (HQ) containing PTMG (Mn = 2100 g/mol), and pure PTMGs (Mn = 1000 and 2000 g/mol) were used for comparison. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) results demonstrated that triptycene units led to an increased glass transition temperature (Tg) and an elimination of the crystallization of the soft segments. The absence of strain hardening for the triptycene-containing sample suggested a suppressed strain induced crystallization of soft segments, which was also confirmed by the analysis of wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) on the films strained to 370 %. Crystallizable PCT segments were copolymerized with PAESs to enhance solvent resistance and mechanical properties. PAES oligomers (Mn = 2000 g/mol) were first synthesized, and then reacted with dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) and 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol (CHDM). Weight percentages of PCT segments were gradually changed from 20 wt% to 80 wt%. With PCT content greater than 50 wt%, crystallinity was observed by DSC, DMA, and WAXD. The extent of crystallinity of the copolymers was dependent on the wt% of PCT. Furthermore, crystallization behavior of copolymers based on two CHDMs with different isomer ratios (cis/trans 30/70 and all trans) were studied. Due to their more symmetric structure, copolymers based on all trans CHDM exhibited a higher extent of crystallization. / Ph. D.

Ce travail porte sur la conception de nouveaux composés π-conjugués, potentiellement utilisable en électronique organique en tant que matériaux actifs dans des dispositifs tels que les OLEDs, les cellules photovoltaïques et les capteurs optiques. Dans ce but, nous avons exploité le motif silacyclopentadiène appelé également silole, possédant un bon rendement quantique de fluorescence à l'état solide et une excellente conduction des électrons. Dans un premier temps, l'introduction de groupements structurants (triptycène, stilbènes..) sur le silacyclopentadiène a permis de moduler l'arrangement moléculaire dans la couche active et par conséquent, les propriétés d'électroluminescence. Des diodes possédant des performances très encourageantes furent ainsi obtenues. Dans un deuxième temps, des dérivés siloles présentant une structure tridimensionnelle et une architecture spirosilole (accepteur)-bithiophène (donneur) furent synthétisées. Une cellule photovoltaïque basée sur ces édifices présentant des performances encourageantes fut ensuite mis au point. Enfin, l'étude des mécanismes de transfert d'énergie entre un film de polymère fonctionnalisé par un groupement sensible silole et des composés nitroaromatiques nous a permis de réaliser un nouveau type de capteur optique hautement sensible pour la détection d'explosifs. / This work concerns the design of new π-conjugated compounds, potentially useful in organic electronics as active materials in devices such as OLEDs, photovoltaic cells and optical sensors. To this end, silacyclopentadiene, alias silole, groups were used exhibiting high fluorescence quantum yields in the solid state and excellent electron conductivities. Firstly, the introduction of structurizing groups (triptycene, stilbenes etc.) at the silacyclopentadiene allowed tuning of the molecular arrangement in the active layer and, consequently, the electroluminescence properties. Diodes showing very encouraging activities were thus obtained. Secondly, silole derivatives possessing a three-dimensional structure and a spirosilole (acceptor) - bithiophene (donor) architecture were synthesized. A photovoltaic cell based on these molecules was then developed exhibiting encouraging activity. Finally, a study of the mechanisms of energy transfer between a polymer film functionalized by a sensitive silole group and nitroaromatic compounds enabled the development of a new type of highly sensitive optical sensor for the detection of explosives.

Dans le domaine des nanomachines, des progrès considérables ont été réalisés. Il est désormais possible de synthétiser une machine moléculaire et de contrôler son mouvement grâce à une source d'énergie chimique, lumineuse ou électrique, de façon à ce qu'il soit unidirectionnel. Un nouveau défi a surgi : comment rendre ce mouvement utile ? Comment utiliser le travail d'une machine moléculaire au niveau nanoscopique, mésoscopique ou macroscopique ? Cette thèse s'inscrit à la suite de la démonstration du contrôle de la rotation d'un moteur moléculaire. Ce moteur est un complexe de ruthénium(II) dont la rotation de la partie mobile, le rotor, est contrôlée par la pointe d'un microscope à effet tunnel. Afin de déterminer le travail limite fournit par ce moteur, nous avons synthétisé un nanotreuil intégrant le moteur moléculaire déjà étudié dans l'équipe avec une chaîne latérale permettant d'accrocher par chimie clic différents types de fragments moléculaires. Ces fragments ayant des natures chimiques différentes (fullerènes, triptycènes, porphyrines), ils interagiront de manière plus ou moins importante avec la surface. De ce fait, la rotation du moteur pourra ou ne pourra pas entraîner leur déplacement sur la surface, ce qui nous permettra d'estimer le travail du moteur. Cette thèse décrit la synthèse des différentes sous-unités de ce nanotreuil : le moteur dissymétrique, la chaîne et les différentes charges. Après avoir développé différentes stratégies visant à intégrer la chaîne sur le rotor, la synthèse de chacun des fragments moléculaires fera l'objet des chapitres suivants. Enfin, un chapitre mettra en perspective l'intégration possible du moteur dans des systèmes d'engrenages en vue de la récupération du travail dans un réseau supramoléculaire. / In the field of molecular machines, considerable developments have been achieved. Nowadays, it is possible to synthesize a molecular machine with a directional control on its motion thanks to chemical, light or electrical energy source. A new challenge has arised: how make that movement useful ? How use the work of a molecular machine at a nano-, meso- or macro-level ? This thesis is in line with the demonstration and control of the molecular motor rotation. This motor consists in a ruthenium(II) complexe whom rotation of the movable part, i.e. the rotor, is controlled by the scanning tunnelling microscope tip. In order to estimate its motive power, we have synthesized a nanowinch incorporating the molecular motor synthesized in the team. This motor has been desymmetrized to be able to incorporate a chain allowing to connect by click chemistry several kind of molecular fragments. These fragments (fullerenes, triptycenes, porphyrines) will interact more or less with the surface of deposition. Therefore, the motor rotation will or will not make them move on the surface, giving us the possibility to estimate the motor torque. In this thesis, the synthesis of the different parts of the nanowinch is described : the dissymmetric molecular motor, the linker and the loads. After developping the synthetic strategies allowing us to incorporate the linker on the rotor, the synthesis of each fragment will be detailled in the following chapters. A concluding chapter will deal with the possible integration of that type of complexes into molecular gears in order to exploit the torque in a supramolecular network.

No description available.

Le fullerène C60 est une molécule sphérique composée exclusivement d'atomes de carbone. Ce composé possède une surface aromatique convexe homogène et peut s'associer, entre autres, avec des molécules possédant des surfaces aromatiques par des interactions non-covalentes. Le triptycène est une molécule en forme de "Y" qui possède des surfaces aromatiques convexes. Cette molécule possède l'habileté de s'associer avec le C60 par des interactions de type π qui sont amplifiées par la complémentarité des surfaces concaves et convexes impliquées dans les arrangements cristallins. Nous avons synthétisé des dérivés triptycényles portant des groupements fonctionnels aux extrémités des bras de ce noyau de façon à étendre les cavités disponibles pour interagir avec le C60. En effet, nous avons découvert que les atomes de chlore, de brome et d'iode ainsi que les groupements méthyle permettent d'étendre les surfaces disponibles pour interagir avec les fullerènes C60 et C70. Nous avons étudié les associations entre les dérivés triptycényles et les fullerènes par l'analyse des structures cristallographiques résolues par diffraction des rayons-X. De plus, nous avons étudié les associations entre les molécules considérées par l'analyse des surfaces d'Hirshfeld entourant les fullerènes. Découlant de ces études, l'effet d'amplification des atomes de chlore, de brome et d'iode ainsi que les groupements méthyle a été employé pour identifier de nouveaux solvants aptes à solubiliser efficacement le C60. / The fullerene C60 is a spherical molecule made up exclusively of carbon atoms. The surface of this compound is homogenous, convex and aromatic. As a result, C60 can associate with other aromatic molecules via non-covalent π-stacking interactions to form supramolecular assemblies. The triptycene is a "Y"-shaped molecule with concave aromatic surfaces. This molecule can thereby interact with C60 and form crystals through amplified π-stacking interactions resulting from the concave/convex complementary arrangement. In the course of our work, we made a series of new triptycene derivatives with functional groups added to the periphery of the aromatic core. In particular, we found that methyl groups, as well as atoms of chlorine, bromine and iodine, can be placed on the extremities of the triptycene core to expand the concave cavities available to interact with C60 and C70. We studied the non-covalent interactions between fullerenes and triptycene derivatives using X-ray crystallography. Furthermore, Hirshfeld surfaces have been used to map the interaction patterns around fullerene surfaces. In addition, we have found that aromatic solvents that are properly functionalized with halogen atoms and methyl groups have a special ability to solubilize C60.