Multipurpose gel beads prepared from natural or synthetic polymers have received significant attention in various applications such as drug delivery, coatings, and electrolytes because of their versatility and unique performance as micro- and nanocontainers.1 However, comparatively little work has been done on poly(ionic liquid)-based materials despite their unique ionic characteristics. Thus, in this contribution we report the facile preparation of polymerizable ionic liquid-based gel beads using thiol-ene click chemistry. This novel system incorporates pentaerythritol tetra (3-mercaptopropionate) (PETKMP) and 1,4-di(vinylimidazolium) butane bisbromide in a thiol-ene-based photopolymerization to fabricate the gel beads. Their chemical structure, thermal and mechanical properties have been investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The gel beads possess low Tg and their ionic functionalities attribute self-healing properties and their ability to uptake small molecules or organic compounds offers their potential use as pH sensing material and macrocontainers.
Keywords: gel beads; pH sensing material; polymerizable ionic liquid; self-healing; thiol−ene chemistry.