The outstanding properties of ionic liquids are combined with magnetorheological technology to obtain new and “smart” fluids (see figure and cover) that can be applied in diverse areas of research and technology, such as medical therapies (drug delivery and cancer therapeutic methods), engineering devices (dampers and breaks), and accurate transportation and delivery of substances in multiphase biological and chemical systems.

Micellization and micellar gel formation of poly(styrene)-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) [PS-b-PMMA] are demonstrated in a water-ethanol solvent mixture; full hydration of the PMMA causes a large radius of gyration resulting in micellar gel formation at only 1 wt% polymer concentration.

The living cationic ring opening polymerization of 2-ethyl-2-oxazoline performed in an ionic liquid under microwave irradiation showed an enhanced polymerization rate in comparison to the reaction in common organic solvents; the ionic liquid was efficiently recovered and reused in new reaction cycles, completely avoiding the use of organic volatile compounds.

Water‐soluble ionic liquids (IL) were used as reaction media to perform homogeneous polymerizations under microwave irradiation. The investigated reaction systems include the free radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate and the cationic ring opening polymerizations of 2‐phenyl‐2‐oxazoline and 2‐(m‐difluorophenyl)‐2‐oxazoline. The incorporation of ILs into the polymerizations showed a more efficient heating profile of the reaction mixtures under microwave irradiation in comparison to the cases without ILs. Moreover, a convenient approach for the polymer isolation and recovery of the ILs for further polymerizations is demonstrated taking advantage of the water solubility of the investigated ILs. This synthetic approach is an alternative, efficient, and green method for the manufacture of hydrophobic polymers which may allow depletion of the emission of volatile organic compounds into the environment and for energy savings.

The gelation of the amphiphilic quaternary ammonium oligoether-based ionic liquid (AMMOENG100) with water is addressed. This approach allows the preparation of thermoreversible ionogels with high ionic conductivity (up to 60 mS cm(-1)), remarkable mechanical properties (storage moduli above 10(5) Pa a value comparable to the mechanical properties of some rubbers), and melting points in the range from -20 to 53 degrees C. These properties can be easily tuned in a broad range by varying the water (and/or inorganic salts) concentration in the ionogels. The described method is a very convenient way to prepare ionogels because it is based on simple and inexpensive materials, namely AMMOENG100 and water (no volatile organic solvents involved). Infrared measurements suggested that the observed gelation phenomenon might occur via the formation of a hydrogen bonded network between water and the AMMOENG100 ionic liquid

A versatile, cost-effective approach to the rapid, fully unattended preparation of systematic quasi-diblock copolymer libraries via sequential RAFT polymerization in an automated synthesizer is reported. The procedure is demonstrated with the synthesis of a 23 member library of low dispersity poly(butyl methacrylate)-quasiblock-poly(methyl methacrylate) covering a wide (fivefold) range of molar mass for the second block in a one-pot, sequential, RAFT polymerization.

Anionic polymerization techniques have been implemented successfully in a commercial automated synthesizer. The main problems for a successful adaptation of the experimental technique in the automated synthesizer are addressed, as well as some simple potential applications, such as the anionic polymerization of styrene, isoprene, and methyl methacrylate. The obtained results were reproducible and in concordance with literature knowledge. The apparent rate constant of the anionic polymerization of styrene in cyclohexane initiated by sec‐butyllithium could be determined at two different concentrations of the monomer and initiator in a temperature range of 10–60 °C. All the synthesis and characterization experiments of the polymers were performed within a short time period. Moreover, the syntheses of poly(styrene‐b‐isoprene) and poly(styrene‐b‐methyl methacrylate) block copolymers were also successfully carried out within the automated synthesizer. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 4151–4160, 2005

The synthesis and characterization of well-defined poly((styrene-alt-diphenylethylene)-bisoprene) diblock copolymers via sequential anionic polymerization are discussed. Indeed, modified 1,1diphenylethylene commodity elastomers have appeared recently as an alternative to the well-known elastomers for high-temperature applications. The obtained materials were used for the preparation of block copolymer micelles. The hydrodynamic radius of the micelles in solution was determined by dynamic light scattering and the size of the core by atomic force microscopy at dry conditions. It was found that the observed characteristics of the studied micelles correlate to theoretical scaling predictions. Moreover, the average size of the unimers could be determined with high precision from the obtained experimental data and theoretical knowledge.