Synthesis And Catalytic Application Of Intelligent Poly(Ionic Liquid) Microgel

The developing of clean energy that can replace cheap oil,for instance,biodiesel production or carbon dioxide fixation,is one of the most challenging puzzles in 21th century.Relevant research often involves catalytic reaction,therefore,designing green and efficient catalyst will improve the catalytic performance,thus contribute to development of clean energy.Homogeneous catalysts perform high activities and selectivity but suffer the problems such as difficulty in separation and recycle;while heterogenous catalysts are easier to separate and recycle but manifest lower activities.Hence,how to harmonize catalytic activity and recycling ability,is an issue we have to consider about for exploring green and efficient catalyst.Poly(ionic liquid)microgels that combine properties of solids and fluids can provide a quasi-homogenous catalysis environment,and thus keep efficient catalytic activities and facilitate catalysts recovery.Moreover,poly(ionic liquid)microgels,combining properties from the IL and responsive polymers,should offer exceptional possibilities.Herein,we developed a class of poly(ionic liquid)microgels that undergo stimuli-responsive volume phase transitions.IL-UM or CPIL microgels can undergo reversible volume phase transitions in response to the changes in temperature in water,methanol,or water/methanol mixtures;while CSM microgels can undergo reversible volume phase transition in response to the changes in temperature or carbon dioxide in water,DMAc,or water/DMAc mixtures.The temperature-responsive volume phase transition behavior can be readily tuned over a significant wide range in the miscible mixture by varying the mol ratio of the two solvents,resulting in a phase diagram displaying co-nonsolvency(or co-solvency)phase separation phenomenon.With both the responsive and catalytic properties,the microgels react on external stimuli and allow catalytic properties to be altered in a non-monotonous way.