<p>In this thesis work, two new CO<sub>2</sub>-responsive monomers have been synthesized. These amidine-containing monomers were prepared in a simple and effective one-step reaction, giving a very high yield (98.5 %) of product. Furthermore, there was no complicated further purification required to obtain the highly pure product. The CO<sub>2</sub> switchability, conductivity and partitioning of the monomers were measured. It was confirmed that the monomers could be protonated CO<sub>2</sub> in the present of trace amount of water and reversibly switched back and forth to their natural forms by N<sub>2</sub> at room temperature.</p> <p>The polymers having different molecular weights were prepared from one monomer via conventional free radical polymerization method. The polymers also showed the reversible switchability property with CO<sub>2</sub> and N<sub>2</sub> stimuli. This was confirmed by the results of conductivity and partitioning tests. Temperature showed a major influence on the conductivity of the monomer and polymers. The effect of molecular weight on the polymer switchability of was further investigated through conductivity tests and potentiometric titration. The conductivity decreased with the increased molecular weight. The apparent equilibrium constant (pK<sub>a</sub>)<sub> </sub>decreased with the degree of protonation (δ) suggesting that the basicity of the polymers is strongly depended on the value of δ.</p> / Master of Applied Science (MASc)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/11738 |
| Date | 04 1900 |
| Creators | Li, Meng |
| Contributors | Zhu, Shiping, Chemical Engineering |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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