Themed collection Emerging Investigators

This themed issue of Polymer Chemistry highlights the work of emerging investigators in polymer chemistry. Editor-in-Chief Christopher Barner–Kowollik introduces the issue.

Recent progress in the photoinitiators and monomers/oligomers of photopolymers for 3D printing is presented in the review.

A comprehensive summary of synthetic strategies for the preparation of nitroxide radical polymer materials and a state-of-the-art perspective on their latest and most exciting applications.

Synthetic peptide-based polymers can fold into different secondary structures in the same way as do proteins. This review article presents how tuning the polypeptide secondary structure could be a key step to modulate various properties in advanced polymeric materials (size, rigidity, self-assembly, etc.).

Cyclic thionocarbonate and xanthate monomers were synthesised directly from ribose- and xylose-derived diols and CS₂, and yielded novel sugar-based polymers with regioregular sulfur-containing linkages.

Diverse advanced gradient polymers, including simultaneous, hierarchical, di-blocky, symmetrical, and tri-blocky gradient polymers, were facilely fabricated by applying furan protected maleimide as a co-monomer.

Block copolymers containing an organic arsenical (AsAm) have been synthesised by aqueous SET-LRP.

Non-toxic hydrophobic and amphiphilic N-acylated poly(amino ester)-based comb polymers self-assemble into functional responsive nano-sized aggregates in aqueous solution.

We have succeeded in developing a circularly polarized luminescent π-conjugated polymer with a dynamic hydrogen-bonded network in the helical cavity.

The utility of photoredox chemistry is expanded to include microstructural control of polyolefins.

Oil-in-oil emulsions are especially attractive for compartmentalized reactions with water-sensitive monomers which cannot be used with traditional oil/water emulsions.

Photolabile amine protecting groups are combined with RAFT polymerization to create well-defined amine containing polymers, which is typically a challenge for RAFT polymerization.

A tadpole-shaped amphiphilic copolymer containing cyclic PCL and two PEG tails, PEG-b-(c-PCL)-b-PEG, was rationally designed and synthesized.

Elastin-like polypeptides containing proline were synthesized via chemoenzymatic polymerization and exhibited a temperature-dependent structural transition.

Brush polymers synthesized by reversible-addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization undergo controlled depolymerization when heated as dictated by polymerization thermodynamics.

The first anionic ring-opening polymerization of an activated azetidine is reported.

New luminescent and electrochromic polyimidothioethers were synthesized and fabricated as ambipolar electrochromic and electrofluorochromic devices, and fluorescent electrospun fibers.

The construction of coplanar conjugated ladder polymers featuring alternating donor–acceptor units has been achieved in high efficiency using ring-closing olefin metathesis.

The here established crosslinking chemistry opens up a by-product free method for rapid curing of epoxy-functionalised polyethylenes.

The development of a new polymerization methodology affords polymer materials with new structures and functionalities.

Continuous-flow chemistry provides an operationally simple and reproducible method for the determination of comonomer reactivity ratios in a single afternoon.

Combining a sequential, one-pot RAFT polymerization with the polymerization-induced self-assembly process results in a versatile oxidation-responsive carrier system.

We focused on the monomer/crosslinker sequence in a gel network and designed novel thermoresponsive/hydrophilic amphiphilic co-networks with crosslinked domain structures.

A systematic study shows that bulky allylic substituents on cyclopentene monomers affords a highly precise microstructure after ring-opening metathesis polymerization.

Degradable poly(conjugated ester)s with various backbones were synthesized via conjugate substitution (S_N2′) polymerization of bis[α-(chloromethyl)acrylate] and nucleophilic monomers under ambient conditions.

3D-printable self-healing oxime gels have been reinforced by cryogelation, making these gels mechanically tuneable, macroporous, and doubly dynamic.

This work describes the programmable self-assembly of ABC triblock terpolymers into patchy micelles and further to supracolloidal chains in water.

Star polymers containing 3–8 arms and a linear telechelic polymer are synthesized from a core-first approach using visible-light induced organocatalyzed atom transfer radical polymerization.

Precisely grafted polymer brushes on cellulose nanocrystals guide the formation of silica and yield uniform CNC-based hybrid nanomaterials which are subsequently used in the fabrication of hollow and highly porous silica nanorods.

Spatially controlled introduction of chemical functionalities into ellipsoidal block copolymer nanoparticles is achieved through pre- and post-assembly strategies.

Fibrous and porous monolithic cellulose was employed to immobilize a photocatalyst for heterogeneously catalysing controlled radical polymerization, which provides superior catalyst recyclability.

The formation and stimuli cleavable crosslinking of completely water drained double hydrophilic block copolymer vesicles is presented.

Hyperbranched random copolymers that consist of ethylhexyl hydrophobic groups have the best selectivity compared to linear random and block copolymers.