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Structural and Thermal Properties of Polymeric Microspheres

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Advanced Materials Characterization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 July 2022) | Viewed by 9374

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Beata Podkościelna

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Guest Editor

Department of Polymer Chemistry, Institute of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Chemistry, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin, M. Curie-Sklodowska Sq. 3, PL-20031 Lublin, Poland
Interests: synthesis of new monomers and polymers; chemical modification of synthetic and natural polymers; synthesis of biocomposites; application of ligno-cellulosic materials in polymer chemistry; synthesis of porous polymers in the form of microspheres; investigations of the porous structure of polymeric materials; synthesis of novel polymer-based adsorbents for water treatment; photochemistry; physico-chemical, thermal and mechanical studies of polymers; synthesis of polymeric blends; synthesis of hybrid materials
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Dr. hab. Małgorzata Maciejewska

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Co-Guest Editor

Department of Polymer Chemistry, Institute of Chemical Sciences Faculty of Chemistry, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin, M. Curie-Sklodowska Sq. 3, 20-031 Lublin, Poland
Interests: synthesis of new monomers; synthesis of polymers and copolymers in the form of monolits and microsphres; synthesis of porous materials; chemical modification of polymers; investigation of the internal structure of the porous materials; hierarchical porous polymers; thermal (TG/DS) analysis of synthetic and natural polymers; ATR investigation; swelling studies; adsorption studies of water contaminants; inverse gas chromatography (IGC)
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Dr. Marta Grochowicz

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Co-Guest Editor

Department of Polymer Chemistry, Institute of Chemical Sciences Faculty of Chemistry, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin, M. Curie-Sklodowska Sq. 3, 20-031 Lublin, Poland
Interests: novel synthesis of functional monomers; functional polymer synthesis and characterization; functionalization of polymer surface; thermal properties of polymers; application of polymeric microspheres in separation processes; polymeric drug delivery systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, polymeric materials have become the backbone of the modern industry. In the polymer family, materials with spherical shapes (porous and non-porous beads, microspheres, nanospheres, etc.) hold the prominent position. They are among the most effective materials for their many separation processes. Microspheres are easy to prepare and handle; they do not possess sharp edges and may be readily used in packed beads for continuous flow operation. They are widely used as stationary phases in different kinds of chromatography, in immobilization technologies, drug delivery systems, nuclear imaging, cell culturing, and as specific sorbents. The application of the microspheres are strongly connected with their structural and thermal properties. Consequently, the detailed investigation of these features is one of the most important challenges.

This Special Issue will focus on synthesis, characterization, modification, and thermal degradation of polymeric microspheres. Reviews, mini-reviews, original articles, and short communications covering the most recent advances in microsphere preparation and the characterization of structural and thermal properties are welcome.

Dr. Beata Podkościelna
Dr. Małgorzata Maciejewska
Dr. Marta Grochowicz
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Polymeric microspheres
Porous materials
Thermal properties
Thermogravimetry
Differential scanning calorimetry
Structure characterization
Chemical modification
Chromatography
Adsorbents

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Editorial

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3 pages, 159 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Special Issue: “Structural and Thermal Properties of Polymeric Microspheres”

by Małgorzata Maciejewska

Materials 2022, 15(22), 8017; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15228017 - 14 Nov 2022

Viewed by 834

Abstract

In recent years, polymeric materials have become the backbone of modern industry and technology [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structural and Thermal Properties of Polymeric Microspheres)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

24 pages, 13949 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Medical Plant Extract Purification from Cadmium(II) Using Modified Thermoplastic Starch and Ion Exchangers

by Yi-Gong Chen, Qian Wang, Anna Wołowicz, Agnieszka Gładysz-Płaska, Monika Wawrzkiewicz, Weronika Sofińska-Chmiel, Gui-Yuan Lv, Dorota Kołodyńska and Su-Hong Chen

Materials 2021, 14(16), 4734; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14164734 - 22 Aug 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2246

Abstract

Pure compounds extracted and purified from medical plants are crucial for preparation of the herbal products applied in many countries as drugs for the treatment of diseases all over the world. Such products should be free from toxic heavy metals; therefore, their elimination or removal in all steps of production is very important. Hence, the purpose of this paper was purification of an extract obtained from Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo and cadmium removal using thermoplastic starch (S1), modified TPS with poly (butylene succinate); 25% of TPS + 75% PBS (S2); 50% of TPS + 50% PLA (S3); and 50% of TPS + 50% PLA with 5% of hemp fibers (S4), as well as ion exchangers of different types, e.g., Lewatit SP112, Purolite S940, Amberlite IRC747, Amberlite IRC748, Amberlite IRC718, Lewatit TP207, Lewatit TP208, and Purolite S930. This extract is used in cancer treatment in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis with differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray powder diffraction, gel permeation chromatography, surface analysis, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and point of zero charge analysis were used for sorbent and adsorption process characterization, as well as for explanation of the Cd(II) sorption mechanism. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structural and Thermal Properties of Polymeric Microspheres)

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20 pages, 9049 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sorption Properties of Specific Polymeric Microspheres towards Desethyl-Terbuthylazine and 2-Hydroxy-Terbuthylazine: Batch and Column Studies

by Sylwia Ronka and Weronika Bodylska

Materials 2021, 14(11), 2734; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14112734 - 22 May 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1682

Abstract

This work investigates the sorption properties of poly(divinylbenzene) modified in the Diels–Alder reaction towards persistent and mobile metabolites of terbuthylazine. The batch experiments were carried out to examine the efficiency of desethyl-terbuthylazine and 2-hydroxy-terbuthylazine adsorption on the specific adsorbent and the impact of different factors on the adsorption process. Results fit well to a pseudo-second order kinetic model. It was confirmed that hydrogen bonds play an important role in the studied systems. Five times greater sorption of 2-hydroxy-terbuthylazine than desethyl-terbuthylazine was observed. The molecular structures of both metabolites exhibit complementarity to the arrangement of functional groups in the polymer but the differences in the physicochemical properties of the desethyl derivative make it a highly mobile compound with higher affinity to the aqueous phase. The equilibrium data in the batch study fit the Freundlich isotherm for 2-hydroxy-terbuthylazine, and for desethyl-terbuthylazine the Temkin and Dubinin–Radushkevich models were better. The adsorption capacities obtained under dynamic conditions were comparable with batch results. For column adsorption modeling the Bohart–Adams, Wolborska, Thomas and Yoon–Nelson models were used. The proposed microspheres can be reused easily with no significant decrease in adsorption capacity by using ethanol as eluent in the desorption. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structural and Thermal Properties of Polymeric Microspheres)

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Graphical abstract

16 pages, 3460 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Regular Polymeric Microspheres with Highly Developed Internal Structure and Remarkable Thermal Stability

by Małgorzata Maciejewska, Barbara Gawdzik and Magdalena Rogulska

Materials 2021, 14(9), 2240; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14092240 - 27 Apr 2021

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 1537

Abstract

In this study, the synthesis and characterization of permanently porous polymeric microspheres was presented. The microspheres were obtained via suspension polymerization using diverse functional monomers, such as 4,4′-bis(methacryloyloxymethylphenyl)sulphone, 1,4-bis(methacryloyloxymethyl)benzene, 4,4′-bis(methacryloyloxymethylphenyl)methane, N-vinylpyrrolidone, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, and divinylbenzene as a co-monomer. As porogenic solvents, toluene and chlorobenzene were applied. The main aim of the research was to synthesize polymers having a highly developed internal structure and a good thermal stability. The synthesized materials were characterized by ATR-FTIR, scanning electron microscopy, a size distribution analysis, a low-temperature nitrogen adsorption–desorption method, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetry coupled with FTIR and inverse gas chromatography. It was found that, depending on the functional monomer, regular microspheres with a specific surface area in the range of 418–746 m²/g can be successfully synthesized. Moreover, all the synthesized copolymers showed a good thermal stability. In helium, they exhibited 5% mass losses at temperatures over 300 °C, whereas in air these values were only slightly lower. In addition, the presence of miscellaneous functional groups promoted diverse kinds of interactions. Therefore, the microspheres can be possibly use in many adsorption techniques including high temperature processes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structural and Thermal Properties of Polymeric Microspheres)

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20 pages, 5800 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Synthesis and Modification by Carbonization of Styrene–Ethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate–Lignin Sorbents and their Sorption of Acetylsalicylic Acid

by Krystyna Wnuczek, Beata Podkościelna, Magdalena Sobiesiak, Łukasz Szajnecki and Marta Goliszek

Materials 2020, 13(7), 1761; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13071761 - 9 Apr 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2220

Abstract

This paper deals with the synthesis and studies of new polymer microspheres properties based on ethylene glycol dimethylacrylate (EGDMA), styrene (St), and various quantities of commercial kraft lignin (L). In the first stage of the investigations, the conditions of the synthesis process were optimized by selecting a proper amount of poly (vinyl alcohol), which was a suspension stabilizer. Next, based on EGDMA + St + L, new polymers were synthesized by the suspension polymerization method. The chemical structure of the materials was confirmed by means of the Attenuated Total Reflectance—Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) analysis. The evaluation of the synthesized materials includes susceptibility to swelling in solvents of different character (polar and nonpolar), porous structure of microspheres, and their thermal resistance. Morphology has been specified by the scanning electron microscope and automated particle size, as well as shape analyzer. The obtained pictures confirmed the spherical shape of the materials. The microspheres porosity was characterized using the low-temperature nitrogen adsorption. To increase the porosity (partially blocked by the large lignin molecule), the microspheres (EGDMA + St + 4L copolymer) were impregnated with the aqueous solution of the activating substance (sulphuric acid, nitric acid, phosphorous acid, and silver nitrate) and then carbonized at 400 °C. After the carbonization process, the increase in the specific surface area was observed. The microspheres were porous with a specific surface area up to 300 m²/g. The materials had a desirable feature for their potential use in chromatography, which was confirmed by the results of GC analysis with the acetylsalicylic acid. These materials are an interesting alternative in the field of more environmentally friendly, ecological, and biodegradable polymeric sorbents in comparison to the commonly applied styrene-divinylbenzene (St-DVB) copolymers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structural and Thermal Properties of Polymeric Microspheres)

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