Facile Synthesis of an Amphiphilic 1,3,5-Trisubstituted Benzene as a Novel Surface Modifier by Selective Photocyclic Aromatization and Efficient Improvement of Oxygen Permselectivity by the Addition of the Surface Modifier

Abstract

Abstract An amphiphilic 1,3,5-trisubstituted benzene as a new 2D surface modifier (T-EO) which has six hydroxy groups and three oligoethylene groups was successfully and easily synthesized by selective photocyclic aromatization in high conversion and selectivity for the first time. We prepared four kinds of blend membranes based on PVA or poly(trimethylsilylphenylacetylene) (poly(SPA)) containing the new amphiphilic cyclic trimer (T-EO) or the corresponding polymer (P-EO), that is, T-EO/PVA, P-EO/PVA, and T-EO/poly(SPA) membranes prepared by conventional solvent casting method (Method I) and T-EO/poly(SPA) membranes prepared by a new solvent casting method (Method II). T-EO/PVA membranes by Method I and T-EO/poly(SPA) membranes by Method II showed better performance in oxygen permeation than P-EO/PVA membranes by Method I and T-EO/poly(SPA) membranes by Method I, respectively. A PVA-based membrane containing 1.0 wt % T-EO showed the best performance, that is, the α became twice that of the original PVA membrane without any decrease in PO2. The ideal improvement may be caused by effective surface modification by T-EO.