Elastic and Thermoreversible Iongels by Supramolecular PVA/Phenol Interactions.

Iongels have attracted much attention over the years as ion-conducting soft materials for applications in several technologies including stimuli-responsive drug release and flexible (bio)electronics. Nowadays, iongels with additional functionalities such as electronic conductivity, self-healing, thermo-responsiveness, or biocompatibility are actively being searched for high demanding applications. In this work, a simple and rapid synthetic pathway to prepare elastic and thermoreversible iongels is presented.

Influence of Anion Structure on Thermal, Mechanical and CO Solubility Properties of UV-Cross-Linked Poly(ethylene glycol) Diacrylate Iongels.

Iongel-based CO separation membranes were prepared by fast (< 1 min) UV-initiated polymerization of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) in the presence of different ionic liquids (ILs) with the [Cmim] cation and anions such as [TFSI], [FSI], [C(CN)] and [B(CN)]. The four ILs were completely miscible with the non-ionic PEGDA network. Transparent and free-standing iongels containing between 60 and 90 %wt of IL were obtained and characterized by diverse techniques (FTIR, TGA, DSC, DMTA, SEM, CO solubility and pure gas permeability).

Impact on CO₂/N₂ and CO₂/CH₄ Separation Performance Using Cu-BTC with Supported Ionic Liquids-Based Mixed Matrix Membranes.

The efficient separation of gases has industrial, economic, and environmental importance. Here, we report the improvement in gas separation performance of a polyimide-based matrix (Matrimid5218) filled with a Cu-based metal organic framework [MOF, Cu₃(BTC)₂] with two different ionic liquids (ILs) confined within the pores. The chosen ILs are commonly used in gas solubilization, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([EMIM][BF₄]) and 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate ([EMIM][OTf]), and the incorporation of the [EMIM][BF₄]@Cu-BTC and [EMIM][OTf]@Cu-BTC composites in Matrimid5218 proved to be an efficient strategy to improve the permeability and selectivity toward CO₂/N₂ and CO₂/CH₄ mixtures.