Doubly thermo-responsive copolymers in ionic liquid

We report the behaviour of thermoresponsive block copolymers of n -butyl acrylate and N -alkyl acrylamides in [C 2 mim][NTf 2 ]. Poly( N -isopropylacrylamide) exhibits an upper critical solution temperature in [C 2 mim][NTf 2 ] whereas poly( n -butyl acrylate) has a lower critical solution temperature. Consequently, these polymers exhibit double thermo-responsiveness correlated with the macromolecular structure. Moreover, a switching from micellar to reverse micellar structures was induced by a change in temperature. This property enables the development of reversible shuttles between ionic liquids and water. A series of doubly thermo-responsive block copolymers made of n -butylacrylate and N -alkylacrylamides in [C 2 mim][NTf 2 ].