Controlling Sequence and Reactivity in Lactide-based Macromonomers for Hybrid Acrylic Design

Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research · 2026-04-21

This study investigated the influence of reaction conditions on monomer incorporation and sequence distribution in l-lactide-based macromonomers (MMs) for hybrid acrylic polymers. Hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA)-initiated MMs composed of l-lactide and ε-caprolactone were synthesized via stannous octoate-catalyzed, Sn(Oct)2, ring-opening polymerization (ROP). l-lactide propagates more rapidly than ε-caprolactone, with the selectivity (S) decreasing from 12.9 to 3.9 as temperature increases from 100 to 130 °C. 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) confirmed that temperature and catalyst level promote transesterification, increasing the degree of randomness (R) from 0.51 to 0.76. When incorporated at 50 wt % into water-based pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs), these MMs showed strong microstructure-dependent performance. Low-R (blocky) MMs yielded higher tack and peel strength, whereas higher-R MMs provided substantially greater shear resistance. Water contact angle also increased with R. These results show that MM sequence can be tuned through synthesis conditions to tailor adhesive performance.

Fog Spraying Deposition of Wood Cellulose Nanofibers Containing Tert‐Butanol on Tissue Paper for Air Filtration

CLEAN - Soil Air Water · 2025-12-01

ABSTRACT This study investigated the use of fog‐spraying deposition of wood cellulose nanofiber (WCNFs) suspensions on tissue paper (TP) to create air filter media. High‐purity WCNFs, confirmed using ATR‐FTIR spectroscopy, were found to be composed of cellulose I β structures via x‐ray diffraction with a crystallinity of 67%. The measured zeta potential of the aqueous suspension of WCNFs was −13 ± 1 mV, indicating the absence of acid hydration during their isolation. This study used nine grammage levels of sprayed WCNFs (ranging from 0.3 to 10 g/m 2 ) and investigated the influence of tert‐butanol (TB) on the performance of the medium. After coating, the specimens were freeze‐dried and imaged using FE‐SEM to confirm the proper distribution of WCNFs on the TP substrate. The key findings revealed that increasing the grammage level from 0.3 to 2 g/m 2 led to increased particulate matter (PM) adsorption and a significant pressure drop. However, increasing the grammage level from 2 to 10 g/m 2 decreased the adsorption efficiency, particularly for PM size of 0.3 µm (PM 0.3 ). The study concluded that the specimens prepared with a deposition of 2 g/m 2 grammage level of WCNFs containing TB were the optimal treatment, demonstrating an adsorption efficiency of 94.1% for PM 0.3 and a pressure drop of 123 Pa, compared to the corresponding values for bare TP, which were only 9.1% and 18 Pa, respectively.

Assessment of Fungal Decomposition Strategies as a Step Towards the Development of Sustainable Pressure Sensitive Adhesives

Journal of Polymers and the Environment · 2024-06-07 · 2 citations

Tailoring Wetting Ridge Dynamics on Hybrid Acrylic Polymers: The Impact of Mechanical Properties on Continuous Wetting

Langmuir · 2024-11-11 · 1 citations

This study examined the relationships among the wetting speed, the polymer mechanical properties, and the resulting deformation characteristics of various graft copolymers synthesized from acrylic monomers and acrylated l-lactide and ε-caprolactone macromonomers (MMs). The mechanical properties of the polymer films were manipulated with minimal impact on their static contact angles with water by varying their MM composition. The focus was on wetting speeds prior to the onset of stick-slip behavior, where ridges were smoothly pulled over the surfaces, thereby producing a transient deformation indicative of a wave pulse. The height of the propagated ridge structures quickly converged to a steady-state value, depending on the wetting speed and polymer properties, regardless of the initial size. The results show that the propagated ridge height correlates with the wetting speed, and the data are well fitted by the Kelvin-Voigt model, which yields two key parameters: the maximum ridge height at the limit of zero velocity and the characteristic wetting speed. Both parameters correlated linearly with the lactide content in the MMs, and the characteristic wetting speed correlated linearly with crossover frequencies from the rheological master curves of the polymers. Furthermore, the characteristic wetting speed was correlated with the peel force required to remove polymer films from the steel plates, establishing a connection between dynamic wetting and adhesive behavior. Our findings shed light on the interdependence between the material composition, mechanical properties, and wetting behavior. The insights presented offer significant potential for designing materials with controlled wetting properties, particularly for applications where capillary flow and surface interactions play critical roles.

Scalable pilot production of highly efficient 5-ply respiratory masks enhanced by bacterial cellulose nanofibers

International Journal of Biological Macromolecules · 2024-09-10 · 6 citations

Fungal Biodegradation of a Hybrid Adhesive Polymer Containing High-Biomass Content

Journal of Polymers and the Environment · 2023-06-29 · 6 citations

Mechanically reinforced biodegradable Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) with interactive nanoinclusions

Polymer · 2020 · 36 citations

• Materials science
• Composite material
• Chemical engineering

Stiffening, strengthening, and toughening of biodegradable poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) with a low nanoinclusion usage

Carbohydrate Polymers · 2020 · 52 citations

• Materials science
• Composite material

Synergistic enhancement of gas barrier and aging resistance for biodegradable films with aligned graphene nanosheets

Carbon · 2020 · 36 citations

• Materials science
• Chemical engineering
• Composite material

Tailoring CO₂-Responsive Polymers and Nanohybrids for Green Chemistry and Processes

Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research · 2019-07-24 · 41 citations

Stimuli-responsive materials are functional materials that can change their physical and chemical properties or perform specific functions in response to external stimuli. The use of these materials in chemical reactions and processes can make the production or operations controllable and repeatable (or recyclable), which may allow green chemistry and technologies with lower consumption of matter and energy. Among various stimuli-responsive materials, CO2-responsive polymer materials are highly attractive because of their unique advantages of using CO2 as a trigger in aspects of responding speed, contamination accumulation, operation scale, cost, and environmental friendliness, in addition to the characteristic capability to precisely regulate the response performance of polymers through manipulating their chain structures. In this review, we discuss the development of CO2-responsive polymers and nanocomposites with designed performance from tailoring the polymer chain structures including functionalities, compositions, and topologies, as well as hybridizing with inorganic nanomaterials. Applications of these materials in fields of catalysis, nanoreactors, switchable surfactant/stabilizers, and separation are also summarized in detail. Our focus is on how the CO2-responsive polymer materials with specific properties can be designed to reduce energy consumption and waste production. We believe that by tailoring the chain structures of CO2-responsive polymer materials, customizing their properties, and hybridizing them with functional nanomaterials, they could be utilized in the fields of catalysis, colloids, separations, and others to enable greener and more energy-efficient processes.