Developing surfmer structure-property relationships for high internal phase emulsion foams

University Of Alabama Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa AL

Investigators

Abstract

As the demand for clean water grows along with demand for products that improve quality of life, industries that support the development and production of chemical products continue to release pollutants and contaminants into the environment. Technology is needed to remove these chemicals from water to render it safe for daily use in an efficient and cost-effective manner. High internal phase emulsion polymer foams (pHIPE) are materials that pull chemicals from the water and trap them in pores, resulting in cleaner, safer water. However, current methods for manufacturing pHIPE use chemicals that must be removed prior to use, resulting in an increase in material cost and a concern that residual contaminants in these materials may further pollute the water. This project addresses the national need for creating effective and safe pHIPE that pose no environmental risk while retaining a low manufacturing cost. In addition, the research team members will work directly with community stakeholders to understand knowledge and perception of water treatment and available treatment technologies to increase community adoption and ownership of the pHIPE technology. High internal phase emulsion polymer foams (pHIPEs) are a form of water treatment technology needed to address urgent issues with community water treatment infrastructure. pHIPEs are adsorbents with a high internal surface area that originates from the initial solvent/monomer emulsion and the surfactant that stabilizes the solvent/monomer interface. Despite the reliance of pHIPE function on surfactants, little work has been done to understand the impact of surfactant structure on pHIPE performance or reduce the need to remove it post-polymerization. To meet this need, this project will determine structure-property relationships for reactive surfactants (surfmers) that demonstrate the impact of surfactant structure on the porous performance and bulk properties of pHIPEs. Surfmers will be synthesized and designed to stabilize the monomer/solvent interface and to participate in bulk polymerization, resulting in pHIPEs with tunable interfacial activity and porous morphology that do not leach and that conform to the principles of green chemistry. After synthesis, surfmer structure will be correlated to interfacial dynamics (e.g., interfacial tension, diffusion, and adsorption), foam performance (e.g., specific surface area and pore morphology), and polymerization (e.g, surfmer incorporation, conversion, and modulus). This work will also incorporate research to develop effective strategies for communicating with non-scientists about water quality issues, available technologies, and existing infrastructure in their community, with the goal of increasing scientific literacy. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.