Study on structural control and rheological properties of polymers with ions at fluid/fluid interfaces

Abstract

Surface active polymers adsorb to fluid/fluid interfaces (e.g. air/water interface, oil/water interface) that are 2-dimensional confined spaces, and form monolayers. Such monolayers are not only used as stabilizers for foams and emulsions because they reduce surface energy and impart steric hindrance, but widely applied to functional films and membranes due to the extreme specific surface area, permeability, and transparency, etc. While there are many types of surface active polymers, polymers with ions are receiving great attention recently, since they can transfer proton/electron/ion and form complexes easily. Although study to solve limitations and problems in conventional industries by taking advantage of polymers with ions at fluid/fluid interfaces continues to be reported, understandings of their structure and rheological properties are poor. In this dissertation, we investigate the structure and rheological properties of ionomers and polymers with ions at both ends adsorbing at fluid/fluid interfaces, and based on this, we control the structures of the polymers using metal ions.