International Business Machines Corporation

Krishna M Bajjuri

James L Hedrick

Jeannette M Garcia

Robert David Allen

Gregory Breyta

Carl Eric Larson

Alshakim Nelson

Pierre-Olivier Jubert

David Berman

Hareem Tariq Maune

Qiu Dai

The present invention relates to a water-soluble polymer complex that includes a water-soluble block copolymer and a magnetic nanoparticle, wherein the water-soluble polymer complex has a nonzero net magnetic moment in the absence of an applied magnetic field at ambient temperatures. The water-soluble block copolymer is preferably a diblock or triblock copolymer and the magnetic nanoparticle is preferably a ferrimagnetic or ferromagnetic nanoparticle. The water-soluble complexes may be derivatized with reactive groups and conjugated to biomolecules. Exemplary water-soluble polymer complexes covered under the scope of the invention include PEG-b-PAAmodified CoFeO; NH-PEG-b-PAAmodified CoFeO; PNIPAM-b-PAAmodified CoFeO; and mPEG-b-PCL-b-PAA modified CoFeO.

Aqueous soluble ferrimagnets stabilized by block copolymers

Provided is a method of depolymerizing polyesters from post-consumer products, such as beverage bottles, to produce a high purity reaction product. For the depolymerization reaction, the polyesters are reacted with an alcohol and an amine organocatalyst at a temperature of about 150&#xb0; C. to about 250&#xb0; C. In one application, the use of an organocatalyst with a boiling point significantly lower than the boiling point of the reactant alcohol allows for the ready recycling of the amine organocatalyst. In another application, performing the depolymerization reaction under pressure at a temperature above the boiling point of the alcohol allows for accelerated depolymerization rates and the recovery of the organocatalyst with no further heat input. In a further application, glycolytic depolymerization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) produces a reaction product of bis(2-hydroxyethyl)terephthalate (BHET), which may in turn be used to produce high purity beverage bottle grade PET, in a closed loop process with minimal waste.

Methods and materials for depolymerizing polyesters

Poly(ether sulfones) (PES) and poly(ether amide sulfones) (PEAS) were prepared from post-consumer polycarbonates and polyesters, respectively, using a single vessel in batch mode (all reactants present when heating was initiated). The depolymerization of the initial polymer occurs concurrently with step growth polymerization to form a product polymer having a number average molecular weight of at least 5000.

Poly(ether sulfone)s and poly(ether amide sulfone)s and methods of their preparation

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Krishna M Bajjuri