Reprocessable and recyclable styrene-based resins with low dielectric and good mechanical properties

Abstract

Current low dielectric materials can't be recycled, causing significant serious environmental pollution. In this work, to create a type of recyclable and reprocessable low dielectric materials, pyridine was incorporated into styrene-based polymers by copolymerization. Subsequently, this copolymer was cross-linked by incorporating zinc ions and forming coordination bonds. These resins exhibited low dielectric constant (ε = ∼3) and good tensile strength (∼40 MPa) and modules (∼700 MPa). Meanwhile, these resins can be decrosslinked and dissolved in tetrahydrofuran and be reprocessed at above 200 °C. After 3 cycles of reprocessing, the low ε and mechanical properties of the styrene resins can still be preserved, indicating a good recyclability of these new styrene-based resins.