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Comprehensive comparative characterization of highly structurally similar, RAFT-prepared trehalose and sucrose glycopolymers.

An alternate method of synthesizing oligoglycerols from glycerolepichlorohydrinKOH mixtures at room temperature is proposed. This method involves using triethanolamine as a catalyst and produced a mixture of low molecular weight oligoglycerols, mainly di-and triglycerols. Second, the method was optimized for triglycerol yield, and the product obtained was found to be similar to the commercially available Triglycerol. Superior results were achieved using a combination of electrodialysis and ion-exchange as a purification step, which allowed for polyols synthesis with a total chlorine content below 120 ppm. To validate the applicability of oligoglycerol synthesized herein as a food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical additive, preliminary toxicity studies including the cytotoxicity, comet, and micronucleus assays are discussed.

The new one-pot hydrolysis-crosslinking reaction was used to synthesize a new, waste poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-based material for zinc(II) ions removal. The alkaline hydrolysis of PMMA in diethylene glycol diethyl ether was used to obtain polymer matrix and it was then crosslinked with Ca and Mg ions to obtain the sorbent. As a result, the macroporous materials were obtained with a yield of 87% when waste PMMA was used, and about 95% when the commercial PMMAs were used. The degree of hydrolysis was similar, from 32% to 35%. New materials were then tested for their affinity towards zinc(II) ions. Two kinetic models (pseudo-first and pseudo-second order), as well as two isotherms (Langmuir and Freundlich), were used to describe the kinetics and equilibrium of zinc(II) ion sorption on the studied materials, respectively. All the prepared PMMA-based sorbents showed similar or higher sorption capacity (q up to 87.7 mg/g) compared to commercially available materials in a broad pH range (4–7). The study shows sorption was fast—above 80% of equilibrium capacity was achieved after ca. 0.5 h. Presented results show that waste PMMA may be an interesting raw material for the preparation of sorbents for zinc(II) ions removal.