Rapid synthesis of poly(HPA-co-VeoVa 10) amphiphilic gels toward removal of toxic solvents via plasma-ignited frontal polymerization

Atmospheric air plasma was created and applied in the frontal polymerization (FP) of fabricating poly(HPA-co-VeoVa 10) amphiphilic gels (HPA = 2-hydroxypropyl acrylate, VeoVa 10 = vinyl versatate) with enhanced physicochemical properties. In plasma-ignited frontal polymerization (PIFP), once ignited by air plasma, no further energy or treatment was required for the following polymerization. In this system, the comparison between PIFP and thermal frontal polymerization (TFP) was conducted and observed that PIFP and TFP differ considerably in terms of swelling capacity, morphology and component distribution of the products. This finding is of great importance that the simultaneous generation of active radicals in the initial stage can spread throughout reactant and anchor on the synthetic polymer with the assistance of FP. More interestingly, the PIFP-synthesized copolymer possesses remarkable selective absorption towards organic solvents, which can be facilely manipulated by varying the weight ratios of HPA/VeoVa 10. Obviously, these polymer products could serve as an "organic solvent scavenger" in the field of industrial wastewater treatment.