Sugar rings threaded on polymers at interfaces
Dr Sarah Mears - Postdoctoral research assistant (previous student, left the group in 1998)
Research Interests
Pseudopolyrotaxane and Polyrotaxane Physical Chemistry
The aim of this project is to investigate the solution and interfacial properties of supramacromolecular complexes.
- This project is concerned with the synthesis, characterisation and properties of polyrotaxanes and pseudopolyrotaxanes. These are classes of compounds consisting of linear and cyclic species, which are not joined by chemical bonds, but by non-covalent forces.
- These complexes are of interest in that they are novel compounds and exhibit some interesting properties. As a result they may have some potential applications in a number of different industries.
- Predominately, we have investigated polyrotaxanes and pseudopolyrotaxanes where the macrocycle is a -cyclodextrin. In order to form a host-guest complex where the polymer is threaded through the cyclodextrin major factor is that the diameter of the polymer must less than that of the cyclodextrin cavity.
- Evidence for the existence of these inclusion compounds has come primarily from NMR spectroscopy and chromatography. In chromatography studies it has not been possible to separate the polymer and a-CD of the complex.
Summary of PhD Work
Polymer, Particle, Surfactant Interactions
Certain water soluble polymers such as poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) can form self-assembled complexes with anionic surfactants, for example, sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), in aqueous solution.
These complexes can play an important role in key industrial applications such as colloid stabilisation and destabilisation, enhanced oil recovery and detergency.
The aim of my thesis was to investigate the solution and adsorption properties of a range of polymers (these being charged, uncharged or composed of different blocks) in the presence of SDS. This is in order to gain a greater understanding of the factors involved in mixed adsorption systems and to relate this, in the future, to the deposition properties of these same systems.
List of Publications
T. Cosgrove, S. J. Mears, P. C. Griffiths; Colloidal dispersions of silica-containing physisorbed b-casein - a solvent NMR relaxation study. Colloids and Surfaces A - Physiochemical and Engineering Aspects 1994 86 193
T. Cosgrove, S. J. Mears, L. Thompson, I. Howell; Adsorption studies on mixed silica-polymer-surfactant systems. ACS Symposium Series 1995 615 196
S. J. Mears, Y. Deng, T. Cosgrove, R. Pelton; The structure of sodium dodecyl sulphate bound to a poly(NIPAM) microgel. Langmuir 1997 13(7) 1901
S. J. Mears, T. Cosgrove, T. Obey; Dynamic light scattering and small-angle neutron scattering studies on the poly(ethylene oxide), sodium dodecyl sulphate, polystyrene latex system. Langmuir – In press
S. J. Mears, T. Cosgrove, L. Thompson, I. Howell; Solvent relaxation NMR measurements on aqueous silica-polymer-surfactant systems. Langmuir – In press
B. R. Saunders, H. M. Crowther, G. E. Morris, S. J., Mears, T. Cosgrove, B. Vincent; Factors affecting the swelling of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) microgel particles - fundamental and commercial implications. Colloids and Surfaces – In press
T. Cosgrove, S. J. Mears, T. Obey, L. Thompson, R. D. Wesley, Polymer, particle, surfactant Interactions. Colloids and Surfaces – In press
S. J. Mears, T. Cosgrove, E. Smith, J. Rockliffe; Pulsed field gradient NMR measurements on mixed silica-polymer-surfactant systems. In preparation.
S. J. Mears, C. Roberts, T. M. Obey, T. Cosgrove; Solution properties of supramolecular complexes. In preparation.
