Novel associative polymer networks based on cyclodextrin inclusion compounds

A new routine to synthesize α- and β-cyclodextrin (CD)-modified PAA and a novel associative polymer networks based on mixture of CD-modified and hydrophobically-modified (HM) poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) were described. It was shown that the inclusion interactions between CD and hydrophobe grafts in PAAs lead to stronger associations and solution viscosities than purely hydrophobic interactions at the same polymer concentration. The cyclodextrin inclusion is strictly binary, and its strength can be tuned by the choice of CD and hydrophobic species. The screening of the association between hydrophobically modified PAA by free α- or β-cyclodextrins occurs at approximately a stoichiometric ratio of cyclodextrin to hydrophobe.