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The ability to access functional materials through affordable and facile synthetic methods has long been sought after for various research and commercial applications. Many innovative academic syntheses, although fundamentally interesting, cannot be adopted by industry due to complexity, cost, or incompatibility for scale-up. Therefore, this dissertation highlights the development of novel avenues to produce materials tailored for either colorimetric sensing or dispersion with an emphasis on developing accessible and inexpensive methods such that they can be readily adapted to industrial processes. A colorimetric sensor for amines is presented based on the facile reaction of activated furans with amines to form highly colored donor-acceptor Stenhouse adducts (DASAs). This synthetic method gives non-experts access to a more sensitive and selective detector from an inexpensive biomass precursor. Although the small molecule version of this detector was prone to leeching and was thus incompatible with most applications, incorporation into an oxa-norbornene polymer backbone enhanced the stability of this sensor and expanded its potential uses, particularly in aqueous media. The utility of this system for commercial applications including food spoilage detection and chemical reaction monitoring is explored.Another area of industrial interest is the tailorability of poly(acrylic acid)s (PAA) for a number of applications including dispersants, coatings, and mineralization control where microstructure changes to these materials have been shown to produce dramatically different macroscopic properties. A universal method to prepare well-defined PAAs with readily interchangeable chain end chemistries is described. This new platform provides easier access to targeted PAA structures and facilitates future studies into the structure-property relationship of these versatile compounds. Additionally, this process may enable the creation of novel dispersants for improved paint formula

The ability to access functional materials through affordable and facile synthetic methods has long been sought after for various research and commercial applications. Many innovative academic syntheses, although fundamentally interesting, cannot be adopted by industry due to complexity, cost, or incompatibility for scale-up. Therefore, this dissertation highlights the development of novel avenues to produce materials tailored for either colorimetric sensing or dispersion with an emphasis on developing accessible and inexpensive methods such that they can be readily adapted to industrial processes. A colorimetric sensor for amines is presented based on the facile reaction of activated furans with amines to form highly colored donor-acceptor Stenhouse adducts (DASAs). This synthetic method gives non-experts access to a more sensitive and selective detector from an inexpensive biomass precursor. Although the small molecule version of this detector was prone to leeching and was thus incompatible with most applications, incorporation into an oxa-norbornene polymer backbone enhanced the stability of this sensor and expanded its potential uses, particularly in aqueous media. The utility of this system for commercial applications including food spoilage detection and chemical reaction monitoring is explored.Another area of industrial interest is the tailorability of poly(acrylic acid)s (PAA) for a number of applications including dispersants, coatings, and mineralization control where microstructure changes to these materials have been shown to produce dramatically different macroscopic properties. A universal method to prepare well-defined PAAs with readily interchangeable chain end chemistries is described. This new platform provides easier access to targeted PAA structures and facilitates future studies into the structure-property relationship of these versatile compounds. Additionally, this process may enable the creation of novel dispersants for improved paint formula

Doped polypyrrole (PPy) was synthesized using FeCl3 as an oxidant, acrylic acid and poly(acrylic acid) as dopants. The effects of dopants and doping level on the solubility and conductivity parameters were optimized. The doped PPy was characterized using FT-IR, UV-Vis and EPR measurements. The thermal stability of doped PPy was studied by TGA/DSC analysis. The morphology of the doped PPy was studied using Scanning Electron Microscope. The Electrochemical study of the doped PPy was carried out by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS). This study reveals that the polyacrylic acid doped PPy shows higher conductivity than its monomer acrylic acid and the water soluble nature was also augmented at higher doping level of polyacrylic acid on the PPy.