Ion exchange compositions, methods for making and materials prepared therefrom

1. A method for making an ion exchange polymer composition comprising polymerizing a primary crosslinker with a secondary crosslinker, wherein the primary crosslinker comprises a crosslinked ionic monomer including a quaternary ammonium group, wherein the crosslinked ionic monomer including a quaternary ammonium group is prepared by a chemical reaction prior to a polymerizing reaction between the primary crosslinker and the secondary crosslinker.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the crosslinked ionic monomer including a quatemary ammonium group is prepared by chemically reacting polyepoxide with a tertiary amine including an acrylic group or an acrylamide group, in the presence of an acid.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the tertiary amine and polyepoxide are in a molecular ratio of from about 1.0 to about 2.5 moles of the tertiary amine to each equivalent mole of the polyepoxide.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the crosslinked ionic monomer has structure I:

wherein R is —[CH 2 —CH(OH)] 2 —W; R 1 is hydrogen or a C 1 -C 12 alkyl group; Z is oxygen or N—R 3 ; R 2 is —[CH 2 ] n —; R 3 is hydrogen or —[CH 2 ] m —CH 3 ; R 4 and R 5 are each, independently, —[CH 2 ] m —CH 3 ; X is selected from the group consisting of Cl, Br, I and acetate; W is a bridging group or atom; m is an integer from 0 to 20; and n is an integer from 1 to 20.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the secondary crosslinker is prepared by reacting an acrylamide compound with another acrylamide compound including hydroxyl groups.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the primary and secondary crosslinkers are polymerized by heating the reactants.