The interaction between poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) and salts in aqueous media: The “salting-out” phenomenon as studied by attenuated total reflection/fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

The effect of two strong salting-out salts (Na₂SO₄ and K₂SO₄) on the temperature-induced phase-separation process in aqueous solutions of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPA) was examined by attenuated total reflectance/Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and viscosity measurements. On the basis of these measurements, a detailed scenario of the phase-separation process was deduced. The phase-separation scenario of solutions containing PNIPA and water was altered in the presence of sulfate ions. Here, the sulfate ions induced partial intrachain collapse, manifested by a relatively compact structure well below the lower critical solution temperature. This led to a more gradual, smooth phase transition, with temperature-resolved intrachain collapse and interchain aggregation and a lesser extent of hysteresis. Although at the macrolevel one may not be able to differentiate among various scenarios altering the solvent into a poor solvent, the aforementioned microlevel measurements provided a way to expose the difference between raising the temperature and adding cosolutes. Follow-up studies on the effect of salting-in salts will be presented. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 33–46, 2004     

Synthesis and characterization of surface-cyanofunctionalized poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) latexes

 A series of P[N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM)] latexes with different contents of cyano groups were successfully prepared by either seeded or shot-growth polymerizations of an aqueous solution containing acrylonitrile (AN) onto a seed P[NIPAM] latex, respectively, and further characterized by FT-IR, ¹H-NMR, elemental analysis, as well as by quasielastic light scattering (QELS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). All prepared surface-cyanofunctionalized P[NIPAM] latexes exhibited the same range of lower critical solution temperature (LCST) as a pure P[NIPAM] latex. The shot polymerization process proved more efficient at yielding cyano derivatized latexes than the seeded polymerization technique. The amount of incorporated cyano groups onto the particles was determined with a good correlation both by ¹H-NMR and elemental analysis. The higher the amount of initially introduced AN monomer in the reaction mixture, the more cyano groups were incorporated onto the particles. The surface of the particles with high content of cyano groups appeared quite rough by SEM in comparison with that of the pure P[NIPAM] particles. Received: 25 February 1998 Accepted: 23 June 1998     

Interactions between temperature-sensitive hydrogel microspheres and granulocytes

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) has a low critical solution temperature (LCST) at 32°C in water and the hydrophilicity changes through the LCST. The microspheres whose surface was composed of PNIPAM exhibited phase transition behavior around 32°C. Therefore, the interactions between PNIPAM micropheres and granulocytes depended on the temperature. That is, the oxygen consumption and active oxygen production by cells in contact with PNIPAM-containing microspheres and adhesion of the microspheres to the cell surface were more enhanced above the LCST of PNIPAM than below it, whereas no significant temperature dependence of cell–microspheres interaction was observed in nonthermosensitive microsphere systems. It was suggested that the function of cells could be controlled with temperature using the temperature-sensitive microspheres.     

Cationic amino-containing N-isopropyl- acrylamide–styrene copolymer latex particles: 1-Particle size and morphology vs. polymerization process

 Cationic hydrophilic copolymer latexes were synthesized at 70 °C either by batch or two-step emulsifier-free emulsion poly-merization of styrene (St), N-iso-propylacrylamide (NIPAM), and aminoethylmethacrylate hydro-chloride (AEM) using 2,2′-azobis (2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride as initiator. At first, batch polymerization kinetics were followed by gas chromatography (GC), revealing that NIPAM rapidly homopolymerized, before the polymerization of styrene had started. Particle size analysis by quasi-elastic light scattering (QELS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that monodispersed particles were obtained with the formation of a poly[NIPAM] rich shell. Adding a small amount of the cationic monomer caused a strong decrease of the particle size without affecting the size monodispersity. When a shot process was used, a narrow particle size distribution was maintained, provided that the monomer addition was performed at a relatively high conversion of the first batch step. The poly[NIPAM] rich shell layer was larger with the shot process, but increasing the amino-containing monomer in the recipe resulted in a dramatic decrease of the thickness. Combination of transmission, scanning and atomic force microscopy techniques showed that these hydrophilic particles exhibited odd-shaped structures, the unevenness being dependent upon the performed process. Kinetic data and particle morphology information were inferred for discussion of the polymerization mechanism of this system. Received: 21 August 1997 Accepted: 22 October 1997     

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide). I. Interactions with sodium dodecyl sulfate measured by conductivity

Conductometric titration of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (polyNIPAM) with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) gave two apparent transitions labeled C1 and C2. The C1 transition was independent of polyNIPAM concentration in the 0.05–0.3 wt % range, whereas C2 was proportional to the polymer concentration. C1 corresponded to the onset of binding of surfactant with polymer. Arguments based on a simple mass action model for micellization are presented to show that C2, the second transition, is not due to any simple explanation such as being the point above which only free micelles are formed with surfactant addition. The cloud point of polyNIPAM increased with the amount of bound surfactant. This was attributed to electrostatic contribution of bound sulfate groups to the increased solubility of polyNIPAM. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

聚N-异丙基丙烯酰胺接枝聚苯乙烯高分子刷的构象

当长链高分子高密度接枝到一个表面上时,由于分子链间的相互作用使得接枝的高分子链扩张而形成伸直链的构象,这种形态被称为高分子刷.     

Behavior of PNIPAM Microgels in Different Organic Solvents

In this research, we studied, in detail, the behavior of common PNIPAM microgels, obtained through surfactant-free precipitation polymerization, in a number of organic solvents. We showed that many of the selected solvents serve as good solvents for the PNIPAM microgels and that the size and architecture of the microgels depend on the solvent chosen. Expanding the range of solvents used for PNIPAM microgel incubation greatly enhances the possible routes for microparticle functionalization and modification, as well as the encapsulation of water-insoluble species. In this demonstration, we successfully encapsulated water-insoluble Sudan III dye in PNIPAM microgels and prepared the aqueous dispersions of such composite-colored microparticles.     

含疏水链节的聚N-异丙基丙烯酰胺共聚物的温敏性

采用溶液聚合法合成了一系列N-异丙基丙烯酰胺(NIPAM)与甲基丙烯酸甲酯、丙烯酸乙酯、丙烯酸丁酯或甲基丙烯酸丁酯的无规共聚物,用浊度观测法和光散射法测定了不同共聚物水溶液的温敏相转变行为.结果表明:所得共聚物的低临界溶解温度(LCST)均低于均聚物PNIPAM的,酯类单体的结构和含量对共聚物的LCST有显著影响,其中酯基上的烷基对共聚物LCST的影响能力大于丙烯酸酯α位上的烷基,前者对增大共聚物的疏水性有更大贡献.通过NIPAM与特定丙烯酸酯单体进行无规共聚可以合成转变温度低于PNIPAM均聚物且具有预设LCST数值的水溶性温敏聚合物.     

羟乙基纤维素接枝N-异丙基丙烯酰胺的研究

利用硝酸铈铵引发了羟乙基纤维素与N-异丙基丙烯酰胺的接枝反应.通过红外光谱和1H-NMR谱证明了接枝反应是成功的讨论了单体浓度、引发剂浓度、反应温度对接枝共聚反应的影响。通过差示扫描量热仪和动态激光光散射仪。研究了接枝产物的溶液性质,证明了接枝产物具有温敏性。     

温敏性聚合物复合体系低临界溶解温度的研究

研究了温敏性N-异丙基丙烯酰胺的均聚物(PNIPAm)及其共聚物P(NIPAm-co-KYD)与十六烷基三甲基氯化铵(CTAC)、乙二胺四乙酸(EDTA)、盐等复配体系的低临界溶解温度(LCST)的变化规律。单因素复配体系中,wEDTA为0.1%时,体系LCST从33℃降低到25℃,增大到0.2%时,LCST下降趋于缓慢;wCTAC在0.5%-3.0%范围内,LCST先上升后下降,但wCTAC在0.5%-1.0%内相转变很不明显,超过1.5%后相转变又趋于明显;而无机盐能使体系LCST线性下降;多因素复配体系中LCST变化较缓和,易于控制且相转变现象明显。