Elemental sulfur waste is produced in vast quantities by the petroleum refining process. Sulfur has limited solubility and is hard to process in its elemental state. Recently, inverse vulcanization was developed using vinylic or allylic monomers to cross-link the polysulfides, adding stability and allowing easier processing. Inverse vulcanized polymers have been used to create cathodes for lithium-sulfur batteries, IR lenses, and filters for metal binding. Metal binding is of particular interest, since industrial waste streams often contain heavy metals that are toxic to living organisms and expensive to treat. The majority of these polysulfides have limited solubility, which makes characterization challenging and restricts applications. Here, charged monomers such as diallyldimethylammonium chloride (DADM) were reacted with various amounts of sulfur at 160<b>°</b>C to enhance solubility. The increased solubility enables more accurate solution-based characterization such as NMR and gel permeation chromatography (GPC), to examine the polymer structure and molecular weight. The polymers were also characterized using TLC to confirm the complete reaction of sulfur and FTIR to ensure the integrity of the monomer structure. Additionally, these polymers can be used as an inexpensive material for metal binding. Enhanced water solubility of charge polysulfides allows for better interaction between the metal ions and the polymer. Metal salts, such as ZnCl<sub>2</sub>, were added to aqueous polymer solutions and analyzed using UV-Vis to measure the change in absorbance due to the metal binding.

Inverse vulcanization of sulfur and charged monomers to enhance solubility and create inexpensive metal binding materials

2019 Spring National Meeting

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