title: Self-cleaning resins.
abstract: This paper introduces a fundamentally new concept in adsorbents, whereby the sorption of an aqueous solute by a cross-linked polymer is controlled by a gel to liquid-crystalline phase transition. To demonstrate proof of principle, a bilayer forming surfactant, N,N-dioctadecyl,N,N-dimethylammonium bromide (DODAB) has been immobilized onto a cation exchange resin, Dowex 50WX2, and its thermotropic phase behavior and solute-adsorption properties have been investigated. Examination by a combination of differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray scattering has confirmed the retention of a gel to liquid-crystalline phase transition of the surfactant, occurring between 296 and 318 K. Adsorption measurements that were made for 4-chlorotetrahydropyran, 1,2-dichloroethane, and benzyl alcohol have also confirmed uptake by the resin in the liquid-crystalline phase and release in the gel phase.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, USA.
authors.forename: Vaclav
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Janout
authors.forename: Sasha B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Register
authors.forename: Steven L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Regen