Macromolecular antioxidants\ud with highly sup\ud p\ud ressed leac\ud h\ud ing to the environment,\ud based \ud on \ud hyperbranched \ud poly(ethyleneimine)\ud carrier\ud with\ud bonded sterically hindered phenol and \ud 2\ud alkyl compatibilizing groups with various chain length were synthesized and tes\ud ted for \ud their efficiency in stabilization of polyolefins. The synthesis of the\ud macromolecular \ud antioxidants was carried out \ud by \ud amidation of \ud the \ud amine groups present in \ud poly(ethyleneimine) with various carboxylic acids containing sterically hindered phenol \ud a\ud nd compatibilizing group\ud s\ud , such as n\ud -\ud butyryl, lauryl or stearyl. \ud The structure of the \ud resulting polymers\ud was analyzed by\ud 1\ud H NMR and by GPC. The antioxidant content of \ud the \ud samples was determined by UV\ud -\ud Vis\ud spectroscopy. \ud The e\ud fficiency of the synthesized \ud anti\ud oxidants in therm\ud ooxidative\ud stabilization of polypropylene was \ud determined by\ud chemiluminescence. \ud The e\ud fficiency in photostabilization of polypropylene and \ud polyethylene was investigated \ud by \ud using FT IR and UV\ud -\ud Vis \ud spectroscopies. It was found \ud that \ud the macromol\ud ecular antioxidant which did not contain any compatibilizing groups \ud shows \ud the best stabilizing efficiency in both therm\ud ooxidative\ud and photooxidation tests. \ud The extent of extraction of the synthesized macromolecular antioxidants from \ud polypropylene films was\ud investigated as well. \ud Low \ud extent \ud of extraction of the \ud maromolecular \ud antioxidants from the po\ud lypropylene films was observed\ud in contrast to the \ud high level of leaching of commercially used low molecular weight phenolic antioxidant\ud .\ud These results indicate the\ud environmental advantage of the investigated \ud poly(ethyleneimine) based macromolecular antioxidants over the widely applied low \ud molecu\ud l\ud ar weight compounds

Despite the great interest in nanoconfined materials nowadays, nanocompartmentalized poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) have been rarely investigated so far. Herein, we report on the successful alkylation of poly(1-vinylimidazole) with methyl iodide in bicontinuous nanophasic poly(1-vinylimidazole)-l-poly(tetrahydrofuran) (PVIm-l-PTHF) amphiphilic conetworks (APCNs) to obtain nanoconfined methylated PVImMe-l-PTHF poly(ionic liquid) conetworks (PIL-CNs). A high extent of alkylation (~95%) was achieved via a simple alkylation process with MeI at room temperature. This does not destroy the bicontinuous nanophasic morphology as proved by SAXS and AFM, and PIL-CNs with 15–20 nm d-spacing and poly(3-methyl-1-vinylimidazolium iodide) PIL nanophases with average domain sizes of 8.2–8.4 nm are formed. Unexpectedly, while the swelling capacity of the PIL-CN dramatically increases in aprotic polar solvents, such as DMF, NMP, and DMSO, reaching higher than 1000% superabsorbent swelling degrees, the equilibrium swelling degrees decrease in even highly polar protic (hydrophilic) solvents, like water and methanol. An unprecedented Gaussian-type relationship was found between the ratios of the swelling degrees versus the polarity index, indicating increased swelling for the nanoconfined PVImMe-l-PTHF PIL-CNs in solvents with a polarity index between ~6 and 9.5. In addition to the nanoconfined structural features, the unique selective superabsorbent swelling behavior of the PIL-CNs can also be utilized in various application fields.

Amphiphilic hyperbranched polyglycerols (HbPG) were synthesized by dodecyl and octadecyl alcohols as direct initiators for the ring-opening multibranching polymerization of glycidol. These polymers possess molecular weight dependent surface activity, and are efficient surfactants and stabilizers for poly(lactic/glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles, opening new possibilities for functionalized drug carriers, targeting, imaging agents, etc.