Acid and basic functionalities of nitrogen and carbon dioxide plasma‐treated polystyrene

The choice of plasma gas can determine the interaction between material and plasma and therefore the applications of the treated materials. Nitrogen plasma can integrate functional groups such as primary amines and carbon dioxide plasma can incorporate carboxylic groups on the surface of polymers. For specific adhesion such as bio‐adhesion, polar groups must be attached to the surface to enhance bio‐film formation but the acidic or basic character also controls the adhesion mechanism. Nitrogen and carbon dioxide plasmas are chosen to treat the surface of polystyrene and to show the effects of different functionalizations, i.e. attachment of acid or basic groups and degradation are compared in the present work. Nitrogen‐containing plasma induces mainly weak degradation at a rate of ～0.13 µg cm^?2s^?1. The roughness of the treated surface remains mostly unchanged. Functionalization leads to amino group attachment at a concentration of 1.2 sites nm^?2. We found that carbon dioxide plasma treatment shows more drastic degradation with a rate three times higher than that of nitrogen plasma and can create more functional groups (4.5 sites nm^?2) at mild plasma treatment. However, the roughness of the surface is altered. In both cases the aromatic groups are degraded through the plasma treatment (again this is more evident with the CO₂ plasma) and the induced functionalization was shown to be quick (the upper monolayer of polystyrene film can be functionalized rapidly). Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Competitive influence of atactic polystyrene and supercritical carbon dioxide on the conformation of syndiotactic polystyrene

The crystallization behavior of miscible syndiotactic polystyrene (sPS) and atactic polystyrene (aPS) blends with different sPS/aPS weight ratios was investigated in supercritical CO₂ by using Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction. Supercritical CO₂ and aPS exhibited different effects on the conformational change of sPS and competed with each other. Increasing the content of amorphous aPS in the blends made its effect on the conformational change of sPS gradually surpass that of supercritical CO₂. Supercritical CO₂ favored the formation of the helical conformation of sPS in lower temperature range and the all trans planar conformation in higher temperature range, instead of forming the latter one only in higher temperature range in ambient atmosphere. However, increasing aPS content in the blends pushed the range for forming the helical conformation to lower temperature and made the all trans planar conformation dominant in aPS/sPS 25/75 blend after treating in supercritical CO₂ above 60 °C. The all trans planar zigzag conformation was more favorable than the helical conformation after mixing aPS in sPS in supercritical CO₂. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 1755–1764, 2007     

Simultaneous in situ measurement of sorption and swelling of polymers in gases and supercritical fluids

In this work, a novel method to simultaneously measure in situ swelling and sorption of gases and supercritical fluids in polymers in a commercially available apparatus is proposed. A gravimetric approach reported recently is applied to measure sorption whereas swelling is determined in situ by direct visualization. The proposed method has been used to study the sorption and swelling of carbon dioxide in poly (methyl methacrylate) and the obtained results are compared to previously published literature data. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2011     

Lowering the dielectric constant of polyimide thin films by swelling with supercritical carbon dioxide

The swelling with supercritical carbon dioxide (sc‐CO₂) of thin films of polyimides having various structures was investigated. It was shown that the degree of swelling is significantly influenced by the solvent which was used for the synthesis of those polyimides, by the solvent which was used for the preparation of thin films and by the conformational rigidity of the polymers. The presence of hexafluoroisopropylidene groups in the main chain of a polymer prevents its swelling with sc‐CO₂. The best results were obtained for polyimide film ULTEM, based on m‐phenylene‐diamine and isopropylidene‐diphenoxy‐bis(phthalic anhydride), synthesized in benzoic acid, whose free volume increased twice and its dielectric constant decreased from 3.15 to 2.45 by swelling with sc‐CO₂. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sorption and diffusion of carbon dioxide in single-phase polystyrene/poly(vinylmethylether) blends

The sorption and transport properties of CO₂ in miscible PS/PVME blends at 20°C are reported as a function of pressure from 1 to 15 atm. The complex shape of isotherms for glassy blends and the concentration-dependent diffusion coefficient for rubbery blends reveal a plasticization by sorbed CO₂. The significant depression in T_g has to be taken into account in the analysis of the sorption data. Diffusion coefficient for CO₂ passes through a minimum when plotted against the blend composition. Such a behavior can be quantitatively related to the negative volume mixing of the PS/PVME system in the framework of the theories based on unoccupied volume. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Solubility of carbon dioxide,methane, and propane in silicone polymers. Effect of polymer backbone chains

The solubility of carbon dioxide, methane, and propane in poly(dimethyl silmethylene) [(CH₃)₂SiCH₂]_x and poly(tetramethyl silhexylene siloxane) [(CH₃)₂Si (CH₂)₆Si (CH₃)₂O]_x was measured in the temperature range from 10.0 to 55.0°C and at elevated pressures. The present results are compared with similar measurements made with other silicone polymers. At a given temperature and pressure, the solubility of the above three gases is highest in poly(dimethyl siloxane) (Me₂SiO)_x. The gas solubility is decreased by either backbone-chain or side-chain substitutions of functional groups in (Me₂SiO)_x which increase the stiffness of the polymer chains and decrease the specific or fractional free volume of the polymers. It is conjectured that a decrease in the free volume of silicone polymers has a greater effect in decreasing the gas solubility than differences in gas/polymer interactions [with the exception of specific interactions (e.g., between CO₂ and polar groups in the polymer)]. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Measurement and correlation of solubility of artemisinin in supercritical carbon dioxide

Artemisinin is an effective antimalarial drug isolated from the herbal medicine Artemisia annua L. Supercritical fluid extraction is an environment-friendly method for the extraction of artemisinin. In this work, the solubility of artemisinin in supercritical carbon dioxide was determined by static method at three temperatures of 313 K, 323 K, 333 K and pressures from 11 to 31 MPa. The range of experimental solubility data was from 0.498 × 10⁻³ to 2.915 × 10⁻³ mol/mol under the above-mentioned conditions. Two density-based models (Chrastil and Mendez–Santiago–Teja models) were selected to correlate the experimental data of this work, and the average absolute relative deviation (AARD) was 8.32% and 8.33%, respectively. The correlation results showed good agreement with the experimental data.     

Measurements for the solid solubilities of antipyrine, 4-aminoantipyrine and 4-dimethylaminoantipyrine in supercritical carbon dioxide

The solid solubilities of three active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) of antipyrine, 4-aminoantipyrine and 4-dimethylaminoantipyrine in supercritical carbon dioxide were measured by a semi-flow apparatus. The experiments were taken at 308.2, 318.2 and 328.2 K. The pressure range was from 10 to 22 MPa. These experimental results were correlated by the semi-empirical models of Mendez–Santiago–Teja and Chrastil. A solution model was also employed to fit the measured data. The average absolute relative deviation in solid solubility from semi-empirical models was 4–6%, and that from the solution model was 5–8%. The measured data satisfied the self-consistency test, and the parameters in the semi-empirical models are feasible for data extrapolation.     

Vapour-liquid equilibrium at high pressure in the system containing carbon dioxide and propyl acetate

Wagner Z.: Vapour-liquid equilibrium at high pressure in the system containing carbon dioxide and propyl acetate.

Vapour-liquid equilibrium data in the carbon dioxide---propyl acetate system were measured isothermally at 303.15 K, 313.15 K, and 323.15 K at pressures ranging from 2 MPa to 9 MPa. The experimental data were fitted to the Soave-Redlich-Kwong equation of state in the modification of Graboski and Daubert with the mixing rules developed by Kwak and Mansoori. Maximum likelihood procedure was adopted and all variables were assumed to be subject to errors.     

Solubilities of cinnamic acid,phenoxyacetic acid and 4-methoxyphenylacetic acid in supercritical carbon dioxide

The solid solubilities of cinnamic acid, phenoxyacetic acid and 4-methoxyphenylacetic acid in supercritical carbon dioxide were measured using a semi-flow apparatus. The experiments were taken at 308.2, 318.2 and 328.2 K. The pressure range was from 11 to 24 MPa. These data were confirmed as equilibrium solid solubilities based on a plug flow mass transfer model. The solid solubilities were further correlated using the equations of state or semi-empirical models. The correlation results are satisfactory with optimally fitted binary interaction parameters in the Peng–Robinson equation of state.     

Molecular dynamics simulations of the effects of carbon dioxide on the interfacial bonding of polystyrene thin films

Fabrication of nanoscale polymer‐based devices, especially in biomedical applications, is a challenging process due to requirements of precise dimensions. Methods that involve elevated temperature or chemical adhesives are not practicable due to the fragility of the device components and associated deformation. To effectively fabricate devices for lab‐on‐a‐chip or drug delivery applications, a process is required that permits bonding at low temperatures. The use of carbon dioxide (CO₂) to assist the bonding process shows promise in reaching this goal. It is now well established that CO₂ can be used to depress the glass transition temperature (T_g) of a polymer, allowing bonding to occur at lower temperatures. Furthermore, it has been shown that CO₂ can preferentially soften a polymer surface, which should allow for effective bonding at temperatures even below the bulk T_g. However, the impact of this effect on bonding has not been quantified, and the optimal bonding temperature and CO₂ pressure conditions are unknown. In this study, a molecular dynamics model is used to examine the atomic scale behavior of polystyrene in an effort to develop understanding of the physical mechanisms of bonding and to quantify how the process is impacted by CO₂. The final result is the identification of a range of CO₂ pressure conditions which produce the strongest bonding between PS thin films at room temperature. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2011     

Measurement and correlation of solubility of anthraquinone dyestuffs in supercritical carbon dioxide

Solubility data of 1,4-diaminoanthraquinone (C.I. Disperse Violet 1) and 1,4-bis(ethylamino)anthraquinone (C.I. Solvent Blue 59) in supercritical carbon dioxide (sc-CO₂) have been measured at the temperatures of (323.15, 353.15, and 383.15) K and over the pressure range from (12.5 to 25.0) MPa by a flow-type apparatus. The solubility of two anthraquinone dyestuffs was obtained over the mole fraction ranges of (1.3 to 26.1) · 10⁻⁷ for 1,4-diaminoanthraquinone (C.I. Disperse Violet 1) and (1.1 to 148.5) · 10⁻⁷ for 1,4-bis(ethylamino)anthraquinone (C.I. Solvent Blue 59). The experimental results have been correlated with the empirical equations of Mendez-Santiago–Teja and Kumar–Johnston expressed in terms of the density of sc-CO₂, and also analyzed thermodynamically by the regular solution model with the Flory–Huggins theory and the Peng–Robinson equation of state modified by Stryjek and Vera (PRSV-EOS) with the conventional mixing rules. Good agreement between the experimental and calculated solubilities of the dyestuffs was obtained.     

Role of interfacial interactions on the anomalous swelling of polymer thin films in supercritical carbon dioxide

It has recently been shown that thin polymer films in the nanometer thickness range exhibit anomalous swelling maxima in supercritical CO₂ (Sc‐Co₂) in the vicinity of the critical point of CO₂. The adsorption isotherm of CO₂ on carbon black, silica surfaces, porous zeolites, and other surfaces, is known to exhibit anomalous maxima under similar CO₂ conditions. It is believed that because CO₂ possesses a low cohesive energy density, there would be an excess amount of CO₂ at the surfaces of these materials and hence the CO₂/polymer interface. This might cause excess CO₂ in the polymer films near the free surface, and hence the swelling anomaly. In addition, an excess of CO₂ would reside at the polymer/substrate and polymer/CO₂ interfaces for entropic reasons. These interfacial effects, as have been suggested, should account for an overall excess of CO₂ in a thin polymer film compared to the bulk, and would be responsible for the anomalous swelling. In this study, we use in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry to investigate the role of interfaces on the anomalous swelling of polymer thin films of varying initial thicknesses, h₀, exposed to Sc‐CO₂. We examined three homopolymers, poly(1,1′‐dihydroperflurooctyl methacrylate) (PFOMA), polystyrene (PS), poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), that exhibit very different interactions with Sc‐CO₂, and the diblock copolymer of PS‐b‐PFOMA. We show that the anomalous swelling cannot be solely explained by the excess adsorption of CO₂ at interfaces. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 1313–1324, 2007     

Measurement and correlation of solubility of benzamide in supercritical carbon dioxide with and without cosolvent

The experimental equilibrium solubility of benzamide in supercritical carbon dioxide was measured at temperatures between 308 K and 328 K and for pressures from 11.0 MPa to 21.0 MPa using a dynamic flow method. The effects of three cosolvents - ethanol, acetone and ethylene glycol, were investigated at a cosolvent molar concentration of 3.5%. The results showed that the solubility was enhanced by the presence of the three cosolvents, and ethanol exhibited the highest cosolvent effect. The solubility data in the absence and presence of cosolvents were correlated by two density-based models. The calculated results showed satisfactory agreement with the experimental data.     

Chromatographic investigation of the effect of dissolved carbon dioxide on the glass transition temperature of a polymer and the solubility of a third component (additive)

The effect of dissolved carbon dioxide on the glass transition temperature of a polymer, PMMA, has been investigated using molecular probe chromatography. The probe solute was iso-octane, and the specific retention volumes of this solute in pure PMMA and mixtures of PMMA with CO₂ were measured over a temperature range of 0 to 180°C and CO₂ pressures from 1 to 75 atm. The amount of CO₂ dissolved in the polymer was calculated from a model fit to previously published solubility data determined chromatographically. Classical van't Hoff-type plots were used to determine the glass transition temperature of CO₂-impregnated PMMA from low pressure up to 46 atm of CO₂. Solvent-induced plasticization was observed with the glass transition temperature decreasing by about 40°C. At some pressures, glass transitions at low temperatures could not be determined from the van't Hoff plots because of the proximity of the polymer glass transition temperature to the gas–liquid transition temperature for CO₂. For these pressures, a new method was developed to determine the glass transition composition. The glass transition pressure was then calculated from the measured composition and temperature using an isotherm model. In every case, the glass transition temperature decreased linearly with increasing concentration of CO₂ in the polymer. However, at higher compositions, the glass transition pressure decreased with increasing composition and decreasing temperature. The observed retention volume of iso-octane with PMMA in a glassy state was correlated with an adsorption model developed from a theory for liquid–solid chromatography derived by Martire. This model accurately described the observed decrease in retention of iso-octane by adsorption on the surface of glassy PMMA with increasing concentration of CO₂ dissolved in the polymer. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J. Polym. Sci. B Polym. Phys. 36: 2537–2549, 1998     

High pressure solubility data of carbon dioxide in (tri-iso-butyl(methyl)phosphonium tosylate + water) systems

Ionic liquids are attracting great attention nowadays due to their interesting properties which make them useful in a broad range of applications including reaction media or separation/capture of environmentally hazardous gases such as carbon dioxide. In many cases, for practical and/or economical reasons, the use of aqueous solutions of ILs would be preferable to their use as pure compounds.In this work, high pressure equilibrium data for the {carbon dioxide (CO₂) + tri-iso-butyl(methyl)phosphonium tosylate [iBu₃MeP][TOS] + water system were measured at temperatures ranging from (276 to 370) K and pressures up to 100 MPa. Measurements were performed using a high-pressure cell with a sapphire window that allows direct observation of the liquid–vapour transition. Mixtures with different IL concentrations were studied in order to check the influence of the amount of IL on the solubility of CO₂ in the aqueous mixture.The results show that the presence of IL enhances the solubility of CO₂ in the (IL + water) system revealing a salting-in effect of the IL on the solubility of CO₂. The appearance of a three phase region was observed for IL concentrations higher than 4 mol% of IL in water when working at pressures between 4 and 8 MPa and temperatures between (280 and 305) K. In this range, the upper limit of the VLE region observed is shown to increase with the temperature being almost independent of the IL initial concentration in the mixture.     

Novel density-based model for the correlation of solid drugs solubility in supercritical carbon dioxide

A novel density-based model derived by a simple modification of the Jouyban et al. model has been proposed to correlate the solubility of solid drugs in supercritical carbon dioxide. The six-parameter model expresses the solubility only as a function of the solvent density and the equilibrium temperature. This model is in contrast to the Jouyban et al. (J. Superiority. Fluids 24 (2002) 19) model, which gives the solubility as a function of the solvent density and the equilibrium temperature and pressure. The performance of the model has been tested on a database of 100 drugs that account for 2891 experimental data points collected from the literature. The comparison in terms of the mean absolute relative deviation for each solid drug and for the entire database between the proposed model and models that have been suggested to be mostly more accurate demonstrates that the proposed model has the best global correlation performance, exhibiting an overall average absolute relative deviation of 8.13%.     

Simultaneous spectrophotometric flow-through measurements of pH, carbon dioxide fugacity, and total inorganic carbon in seawater

An autonomous multi-parameter flow-through CO₂ system has been developed to simultaneously measure surface seawater pH, carbon dioxide fugacity (fCO₂), and total dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). All three measurements are based on spectrophotometric determinations of solution pH at multiple wavelengths using sulfonephthalein indicators. The pH optical cell is machined from a PEEK polymer rod bearing a bore-hole with an optical pathlength of ∼15 cm. The fCO₂ optical cell consists of Teflon AF 2400 (DuPont) capillary tubing sealed within the bore-hole of a PEEK rod. This Teflon AF tubing is filled with a standard indicator solution with a fixed total alkalinity, and forms a liquid core waveguide (LCW). The LCW functions as both a long pathlength (∼15 cm) optical cell and a membrane that equilibrates the internal standard solution with external seawater. fCO₂ is then determined by measuring the pH of the internal solution. DIC is measured by determining the pH of standard internal solutions in equilibrium with seawater that has been acidified to convert all forms of DIC to CO₂. The system runs repetitive measurement cycles with a sampling frequency of ∼7 samples (21 measurements) per hour. The system was used for underway measurements of sea surface pH, fCO₂, and DIC during the CLIVAR/CO₂ A16S cruise in the South Atlantic Ocean in 2005. The field precisions were evaluated to be 0.0008 units for pH, 0.9 μatm for fCO₂, and 2.4 μmol kg⁻¹ for DIC. These field precisions are close to those obtained in the laboratory. Direct comparison of our measurements and measurements obtained using established standard methods revealed that the system achieved field agreements of 0.0012 ± 0.0042 units for pH, 1.0 ± 2.5 μatm for fCO₂, and 2.2 ± 6.0 μmol kg⁻¹ for DIC. This system integrates spectrophotometric measurements of multiple CO₂ parameters into a single package suitable for observations of both seawater and freshwater.     

Macroporous polystyrene-supported quaternary ammonium salt catalysts for the addition of carbon dioxide to glycidyl methacrylate

In the present study, the synthesis of (2-oxo-1,3-dioxolan-4-yl)methyl methacrylate (DOMA) from carbon dioxide and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) was investigated in a semi-batch reactor using macroporous polystyrene beads containing pendant quaternary ammonium salt catalysts. The catalysts were prepared by partial copolymerization of styrene (ST) and divinylbenzene (DVB) with isooctyl alcohol, and then by copolymerization with vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC). Quaternization of the pendant chloromethyl groups was carried out by using trialkylamines. The catalytic activity of the macroporous polymer was influenced by VBC and isooctyl alcohol concentration, and by the structure of trialkylamine. A kinetic study was also carried out to better understand the reaction steps. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.