title: Toward the dynamic phase transition mechanism of a thermoresponsive ionic liquid in the presence of different thermoresponsive polymers.
abstract: The influence of two thermoresponsive polymers, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) and poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) (PVCL), on the phase transition behavior of a thermoresponsive ionic liquid, tributylhexylphosphonium 3-sulfopropylmethacrylate ([P4,4,4,6][MC3S]), was investigated. An obvious distinction was observed in the LCSTs and morphologies of [P4,4,4,6][MC3S]-PNIPAM and [P4,4,4,6][MC3S]-PVCL aqueous solutions, indicating their large differences in dynamic transition processes. In general, PNIPAM can "break" the water structure of [P4,4,4,6][MC3S] to decrease the transition temperature, while PVCL can "make" the water structure to increase it. Surprisingly, [P4,4,4,6][MC3S] has an unusual over-hydration behavior before dehydration while PNIPAM experiences a two-step transition process in [P4,4,4,6][MC3S]-PNIPAM aqueous solution, which has never been reported so far. Further studies revealed that the formation of strong intra-/inter-molecular hydrogen bonds C[double bond, length as m-dash]OD-N in PNIPAM is the driving force for the LCST phenomenon of [P4,4,4,6][MC3S]-PNIPAM solution, while it is the [P4,4,4,6][MC3S] that dominates the phase separation of [P4,4,4,6][MC3S]-PVCL solution.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Collaborative Innovation Center of Polymers and Polymer Composite Materials, Department of Macromolecular Science and Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China. peiyiwu@fudan.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ge
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Peiyi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wu