Preparation of novel polymer materials through intermacromolecular complexation

This paper briefly reports the research work conducted in our laboratory in recent years on preparation of novel polymer materials through intermacromolecular complexation. A new polymer solid electrolyte poly (methyl methacrylate–methacrylic acid) [P(MMA-MAA)]/poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO)/A2-LiClO4 was developed by employing both intermacromolecular complexation through hydrogen bonding and plasticization, which has enhanced ambient ionic conductivity up to 8.31×10−5 S cm−1 and fairly good mechanical and film-forming properties, and has potential application in solid state batteries, electrical displaying devices. A new polymer microcomposite poly (acrylonitrile–acrylamide–acrylic acid) [P(AN-AM-AA)]/poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) reinforced by the twin molecular chain microfibrils formed through intermacromolecular complexation of P(AN-AM-AA) with PVA through hydrogen bonding was developed, which exhibits much better mechanical properties than its constituents and could be used to manufacture PVA based complexed fibers with higher modulus and better dyeability. Also, a new polymer flooding agent poly (acrylamide-acrylic acid) [P(AM-AA)]/poly (acrylamide-dimethyldiallylammonium chloride) [P(AM-DMDAAC)] was developed by employing intermacromolecular complexation of the oppositely charged polyions through Coulomb forces, which shows much higher viscosity and better resistance to temperature, shear rate and salt than its constituents, and has potential application in enhanced oil recovery. All these encouraging results demonstrate that as a supramolecular strategy, intermacromolecular complexation really offers a new route to tailor the specific architecture of polymers using macromolecules with complementary structure as building block and to develop novel polymer materials with high performance.