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Updated: Jul 20, 2026

From Molecules to Materials: Engineering New Ionic Liquid Crystals Through Halogen Bonding
Published on: March 24, 2018
Water-soluble ionic liquids as novel stabilizers in suspension polymerization reactions: engineering polymer beads
Carlos Guerrero-Sanchez1, Tina Erdmenger, Petr Sereda
1Laboratory of Macromolecular Chemistry and Nanoscience, Eindhoven University of Technology and Dutch Polymer Institute (DPI), P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Aqueous solutions of ionic liquids have been used as novel and environmentally friendly reaction media to synthesize and "control" the size of different cross-linked polymer beads by suspension polymerization reactions. It was found that the investigated ionic liquids can act as novel stabilizing agents of the suspensions as a result of their surface-active properties. The results have demonstrated that the average size of polymer beads can be varied from the macro- to the nanoscale and their surface area can also be "adjusted" by this synthetic approach. Furthermore, the use of a combination of ionic liquids and water for the synthesis of polymers, the simple isolation of the products formed in this polymerization procedure, as well as the recycling of the continuous medium for further reactions open up possibilities for the development of "new and green" polymerization processes.
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