Bulk Copolymerization of Host-Guest Monomers with Liquid-type Acrylamide Monomers for Supramolecular Materials Applications

Efficient manufacturing product and method must be proposed to apply supramolecular materials in practical applications. Bulk polymerization is one of the methods because polymerization solvents are not used so that the formation of voids and environmental pollution can be avoided. However, the solubility of functional monomers in main-chain monomers is one hurdle facing bulk polymerization. For example, water-soluble mono-6-O-acrylamidomethyl-cyclodextrin (α, β, and γCD-AAmMe) host monomers, adamantyl guest monomers, and acrylamide give hydrogels in water, but a bulk mixture of these monomers does not undergo polymerization. Generally, liquid monomers, such as ethyl acrylate, cannot solubilize CD-AAmMe. We found that CD-AAmMe monomers dissolve in liquid acrylamide derivatives (N,N-dimethyl acrylamide (DMAAm), acryloyl morpholine (ACMO), and N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-acrylamide (HEAAm)). Mixtures of CD-AAmMe and adamantyl guest monomer in liquid acrylamide derivatives form transparent monomer solutions that succ...