We
report a side group modification strategy to tailor the structure
of a polymer of intrinsic microporosity (PIM-1). PIM-1 with an average
of ∼50% of the repeat units converted to tetrazole is prepared,
and a subsequent reaction then introduces three types of pseudo-ionic
liquid tetrazole-like structures (PIM-1-IL
x
). The
presence of pseudo-ionic liquid functional groups in the PIM-1 structure
increases gas selectivities for O
2
/N
2
and CO
2
/N
2
, while it decreases pure-gas permeabilities.
The overall gas separation performance of PIM-1-IL
x
is close to the 2008 Robeson upper bound. Since the tetrazoles are
versatile groups for building a wide variety of ionic liquids, the
modification method can be expanded to explore a broad spectrum of
functional groups.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.