Formation of pervaporation membranes from polyphosphazenes having hydrophilic and hydrophobic pendant groups: Synthesis and characterization

A series of new polyphosphazene polymers were synthesized using three different pendant groups with the goal of probing structure–function relationships between pendant group substitution and polymer swelling/water flux through thin dense films. Formation of polymers with relative degrees of hydrophilicity was probed by varying the stoichiometry of the pendant groups attached to the phosphazene backbone: p-methoxyphenol, 2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethanol, and o-allylphenol. The polymers in this study were characterized using NMR, thermal methods, and dilute solution light-scattering techniques. These techniques revealed that the polymers were amorphous high polymers (Mw = 105–107) with varying ratios of pendant groups as determined by integration of the 1H- and 31P-NMR spectra. Thin dense film membranes were solution-cast with azo-bis(cyclohexane)carbonitrile included in the matrix and crosslinked using thermal initiation.