Ionic liquids as an effective additive for improving the solubility and rheological properties of hydrophobic associating polymers

Ionic liquids (ILs), which carried the designable feature especially hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity, have received significant attention in polymer chemistry. Via free-radical polymerization, a hydrophobic associating polymer ploy (AM/AA/MMIB/NIEA) was modified with a polymerizable ionic liquid (MMIB). The structure and morphology were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, H-1 NMR and SEM. The experimental results of polymer solutions dissolved under the same conditions manifested that the polymer containing ionic liquids exhibited better solubility and rheological properties than conventional hydrophobic associative polymer. Furthermore, the hydrophilic ionic liquid was capable of increasing polymer solution polarity and improving its theological properties. This study can serve as a basis for using ionic liquids in the design of Hydrophobic associating polymer with better solubility, which is expected to have potential applications in more research field. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.