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SUMMARY:CO₂-Responsive Crown Ether Polymer Networks for Selective and Rev
 ersible Lithium Binding
LOCATION:Chemistry A101
TZID:America/Denver
DTSTART:20260420T160000
UID:2026-07-12-06-54-24@natsci.colostate.edu
DTSTAMP:20260712T065424
Description:The increasing global demand for lithium\, driven by its centra
 l role in energy storage and clean-energy technologies\, necessitates the 
 development of more efficient and sustainable recovery methods. Convention
 al extraction techniques from salt-lake brines are resource-intensive and 
 have a significant environmental impact\, motivating the need for advanced
  materials capable of selective lithium capture under mild conditions.\n\n
 This work explores the design of CO₂-responsive polymer networks incorpo
 rating crown ether motifs for selective and reversible lithium binding. Th
 e central hypothesis is that 12-crown-4 ether units\, functionalized with 
 tertiary amines and embedded within a crosslinked polymer matrix\, can pro
 vide size-selective coordination of Li⁺ while enabling external control 
 over ion adsorption and desorption through CO₂-triggered changes in the 
 polymer microenvironment.\n\nStatistical copolymers are synthesized via RA
 FT polymerization\, combining ion-binding crown ether units\, hydrophobic 
 components for structural stability\, and crosslinking sites to form netwo
 rks. Upon CO₂ exposure\, protonation of tertiary amines increases networ
 k charge density and hydrophilicity\, leading to swelling that disrupts Li
 ⁺ coordination and enables controlled ion release. Through systematic va
 riation of polymer composition\, this study evaluates the relationships be
 tween structure\, stimulus response\, and ion sorption performance. Quanti
 tative adsorption and desorption studies assess lithium uptake\, reversibi
 lity\, and selectivity in the presence of competing ions (Mg²⁺\, Na⁺\
 , K⁺).\n\nOverall\, this research establishes a molecular design framewo
 rk for adaptive\, stimuli-responsive sorbent materials\, offering a promis
 ing strategy for selective lithium recovery from complex aqueous systems w
 hile contributing to the advancement of next-generation responsive materia
 ls. 4:00 pm
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