Sulfur-containing polymers derived from SO2: synthesis, properties, and applications

Abstract

Sulfur-containing polymers enjoy the merits of excellent optical performance, degradation, chemical recyclability, and adhesive abilities toward metal ions. Recently, increasing attention has been paid to the synthesis and applications of sulfur-containing polymers in both academia and industry. Compared to several sulfur-containing monomers that suffer from either restricted accessibility, low reactivity or tedious synthesis, sulfur dioxide, a well-known air pollutant, is a kind of easily obtained monomer with high reactivity and undergoes copolymerization with olefins and epoxides to produce degradable polysulfones and polysulfites. SO₂-based polymer materials are of intense industrial and theoretical interest in terms of the large quantities of available monomers, facile polymerization, unique mechanism, and high performance of the resultant copolymers. In this review, we summarize the progress achieved in the copolymerization of SO₂ with olefins and epoxides, mainly focusing on the monomer scope, mechanism, and properties of the resultant copolymers.