A series of di-meta-alkyl-aromatic esters of acrylic acid, in which the bulkiness of the side chain is systematically varied, will be prepared, purified, and characterized. These monomers will be polymerized in supercritical carbon dioxide, both bulk and regular solvent. The advantage of one method over the other will be studied. The polymers will be fractionated, if necessary, and the samples will be characterized, in solution, by viscometry, size exclusion chromatography and light scattering techniques. Through these measurements, the thermodynamic characteristics, and dimensional parameters of this family of polymers will be studied using conventional methods. The polymers also will be studied in binary solvents. In the latter case, the values of preferential adsorption of these polymers in mixtures of the binary solvents will be determined. Moreover, the thermal stability of the polymers will be studied by thermogravimetric analysis; and the Tg values of the fractions will be measured by differential scanning calorimeter. The relationship between the chemical structure of polymers and physical properties will be established.
Three undergraduates student will be involved during the executions of the project; this will increase the research popularity of polymer science among undergraduates and hopefully will lead to establish the bases for a polymer science in this department.
Supercritical liquid CO2 will be utilize as solvent to synthesis and characterize the polymers. The results will be compared and the environmental friendly property of supercritical CO2 will be addressed.