Tuning CO2-induced reversible redispersion or irreversible destabilisation for latex separation

Meng Mu; Rui Yuan; Ganghong Zhang; Dianguo Wu; Hongping Quan; Peihui Han; Yujun Feng

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2020.03.121

Tuning CO₂-induced reversible redispersion or irreversible destabilisation for latex separation

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2020 Aug 1:573:250-262. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.03.121. Epub 2020 Apr 2.

Authors

Meng Mu¹, Rui Yuan², Ganghong Zhang², Dianguo Wu², Hongping Quan³, Peihui Han⁴, Yujun Feng⁵

Affiliations

¹ Polymer Research Institute, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, PR China; Chengdu Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, PR China.
² Polymer Research Institute, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, PR China.
³ Oil & Gas Field Applied Chemistry Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, PR China.
⁴ EOR Laboratory, Exploration & Development Research Institute, Daqing Oilfield Limited Company, PetroChina, Daqing 163712, PR China.
⁵ Polymer Research Institute, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, PR China; Chengdu Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, PR China. Electronic address: yjfeng@scu.edu.cn.

PMID: 32278956
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.03.121

Abstract

Hypothesis: The CO₂-sensitive dispersion/precipitation transition of polymer latexes fabricated based on a responsive emulsifier is a promising way to conveniently acquire bulk polymer materials. Nevertheless, the tedious synthesis procedures for switchable surfactants and the harsh operating requirements for the sensitive latexes constrain the applicability of the approach for latex preparation. Therefore, a new strategy for generating latexes with tunable CO₂ responsiveness in a maneuverable way is urgently needed.

Experiments: In this work, a CO₂-switchable electrostatic interaction is introduced to construct responsive latexes. A series of lightly crosslinked poly(diethylaminoethyl methacrylate-styrene) [P(DEA-St)] latexes with different PDEA contents were fabricated via one-pot emulsion copolymerization, with divinylbenzene and sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) used as the crosslinker and anionic emulsifier, respectively. The influence of the DEA feeding ratio on the resulting P(DEA-St) colloids was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Then, a cyclic CO₂/N₂ input was introduced to verify the response transitions of polymer latexes.

Findings: Accompanied by the stepwise decrease of DEA feeding ratio, the morphology of the resulting copolymerized nanoparticles changed from an ambiguous bulge to the typical spherical pattern. In addition, the P(DEA-St) latexes treated by cyclic CO₂/N₂ exhibit four different types of response modes, namely (i) CO₂-switchable swelling/deswelling transition, (ii) CO₂-reversible dispersion/coagulation transition, (iii) CO₂-induced irreversible destabilisation and (iv) CO₂-insensitive latexes. The CO₂-responsive destabilisation is highly applicable in the separation and transportation fields of commercial latex products, such as poly(methyl methacrylate), poly(n-butyl acrylate) and poly(butyl methacrylate) colloids.

Keywords: CO(2)-switchable; Dispersion/coagulation transition; Electrostatic interaction; Polymer colloids; Swelling/deswelling transition.