Water contamination is a severe problem with serious ramifications affecting all levels of our ecosystem.  There are several sources of contamination for aquatic environments; however, one of the most devastating causes is associated with the production and extraction of crude oil.  Recent developments in our laboratory have resulted in the successful construction of nanomaterials with an added magnetic component for ease of manipulation and recovery.  However, a desire to have tailored materials for broader applications has led us to the development of an enhanced, targeted system.  In order to achieve this novel remediation system, we have designed and synthesized multi-compartment magnetic nanoclusters composed of a large magnetic core surrounded by shell crosslinked knedel-like (SCK) nanoparticles.  The SCKs, composed of poly(acrylic acid)90-block-polystyrene140 (PAA90-b-PS140) block copolymers, exhibit hydrodynamic diameters of ca. 20 nm.  Tethering of the SCKs onto a large magnetic core is expected to impart a high magnetic response to the materials.  In addition, these multi-compartment nanoclusters are expected to absorb hydrophobic organic pollutants into the satellite SCKs through host-guest interactions.  Efforts towards the synthesis of the nanoconstructs via covalent attachment of the SCKs onto the magnetic core through azide-alkyne click chemistry will be discussed.  Moreover, the novel application of SCKs as solid particle stabilizers of emulsions will be discussed, as well as their utilization in a Pickering emulsion polymerization approach towards the construction of the well-defined multi-compartment magnetic nanoclusters.

Multi-compartment magnetic nanoclusters for sequestration of pollutants from marine and fresh water environments

247th National Meeting (2014)

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