1 3 dimethyl 5 sulfoisophthalate sodium salt

Zn(NO₃)₂·6H₂O, Al(NO₃)₃·9H₂O, NaOH were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (Milan, Italy). Carbon nanotubes, CNTs-COOH (3101 Grade), were purchased from Nanocyl S.A. (Sambreville, Belgium) 1-methylimidazole, 1-bromohexadecane, 1,3-dimethyl 5-sulfoisophthalate sodium salt, dichloromethane (DCM), ethyl acetate, tetrahydrofuran (THF), dimethyl sulfoxide-d6 (DMSO-d6), trans-2-[3-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-2-methyl-2-propenylidene]malononitrile (DCTB), were purchased by Sigma-Aldrich (Milan, Italy). All the chemicals were high purity products and were used as received. The polymer is a highly amorphous vinyl alcohol polymer (HAVOH), OKS 8049, kindly supplied from Nichigo G-Polymer (Nippon Gohsei Europe GmbH, Düsseldorf, Germany).

PVC plasticized with tris (2-ethylhexyl) trimellitate (TOTM), having a hardness (shore A) of 87.5, specific gravity of 1.242, and K-value of 65.0, and SEBS, with a hardness (shore A) of 80 and specific gravity of 0.89 were supplied by Consorzio Proplast (Alessandria, Italy). 1-methylimidazole (purity 99%, MW 82.10 g/mol), 1-bromohexadecane (purity 98%, MW 305.35 g/mol), 1,3-dimethyl 5-sulfoisophthalate sodium salt (purity 98%, MW 296.23 g/mol), dichloromethane (DCM) (purity 99.9%, MW 84.93 g/mol), ethyl acetate (purity 99.5%, MW 88.11 g/mol), tetrahydrofuran (THF) (purity 99.9%, MW 72.11 g/mol), dimethyl sulfoxide-d6 (DMSO-d6) (purity 99.8%, MW 84.17 g/mol), and trans-2-[3-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-2-methyl-2-propenylidene]malononitrile (DCTB) (purity 98%, MW 250.34 g/mol) were purchased by Sigma-Aldrich (Milan, Italy) and used as received.

1-Methylimidazole (purity 99%), 1-bromononane (purity 98%), 1-bromodecane (purity 98%), 1-bromododecane (purity 97%), 1-bromotetradecane (purity 97%), 1-bromohexadecane (purity 97%) 1-bromooctadecane (purity ≥ 97%), 1-bromoeicosane (purity ≥ 97%), 1,3-dimethyl-5-sulfoisophthalate sodium salt (purity 98%), dichloromethane (DCM) (purity ≥ 99.9%), tetrafluoroborate sodium salt (purity 98%), anhydrous sodium sulphate (purity 99%), silver nitrate (purity ≥ 99%), ethyl acetate (purity ≥ 99.5%), tetrahydrofuran (THF) (purity 99.9%), dimethyl sulfoxide-d₆ (DMSO-d₆) (99.9 atom % D), trans-2-[3-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-2-methyl-2-propenylidene] malononitrile (DCTB) (purity ≥ 98%) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (Milan, Italy) and used as received. The PVC used in this study was plasticised with tris (2-ethylhexyl) trimellitate (TOTM). It was furnished by Consorzio Proplast (Alessandria, Italy) and had a K-value of 65.0, hardness (shore A) of 87.5, and specific gravity of 1.242.