Preparation and evaluation of a polymeric gel containing ionic liquid‐functionalized MWCNTs as a novel class of organic solvent absorbent

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes grafted with vinyl immidazolium‐based ionic liquid (MWCNT‐IL) were synthesized and utilized as a crosslinking agent for the preparation and evaluation of a polymeric gel as a new class of organic solvent absorbent. Based on our earlier organic solvent‐absorbents, the present polymeric gel exhibited high organic solvent absorbency, fast organic solvent absorption rate, and good reusability. To prepare such polymeric gel, radical polymerization was carried out with dodecyl methacrylate and butyl acrylate as comonomers, MWCNT‐ILs as crosslinking agent, and azoisobutyronitrile as initiator, providing polymeric gel in a quantitative yield. The polymeric gel synthesized under the optimized polymerization conditions absorbed 79 times the dry weight in CCl₄, 57 times in toluene, 96 in CHCl₃, and 100 times in CH₂Cl₂. The reusability of the prepared‐polymeric gel was also checked which established that the gels could be recycled and reused for at least 10 times. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 3166–3172