Themed collection Polymer Chemistry Most Popular 2020

Free radical promoted cationic photopolymerization has been described with its historical background, main principles and usage in polymer synthesis.

In this Minireview, RAFT polymerization of monomers derived from renewable resources is explored. Methods used to prepare these monomers are discussed, and potential applications of the resulting renewable polymers are highlighted.

This review covers the current status of chemical recycling and upcycling of poly(bisphenol A carbonate), a leading engineering plastic of great economic and environmental interest.

The development of controlled/“living” polymerization greatly stimulated the prosperity of the fabrication and application of block copolymer nano-objects.

Polymer mechanochemical pericyclic reactions are reviewed with regard to their structural features and substitution prerequisites to the polymer framework.

A review of hydrogels containing dynamic bonds that are shown to provide benefits for applications including self-healing and stimuli-induced stiffness changes.

Multiblock copolymers (MBCs) are an emerging class of synthetic polymers that exhibit different macromolecular architectures and behaviours to those of homopolymers or di/triblock copolymers.

Supramolecular polymers are non-covalent assemblies of unimeric building blocks connected by secondary interactions and hold great promises due to their dynamic nature.

We explore the design and synthesis of hydrogel scaffolds for tissue engineering from the perspective of the underlying polymer chemistry. The key polymers, properties and architectures used, and their effect on tissue growth are discussed.

In this review, we provide an overview of six major techniques to tune the sensitivity and specificity of polydiacetylene-based sensors.

For the first time, we report 3D printing of RAFT-based formulations to fabricate functional objects in a layer-by-layer fashion.

A two-dimensional covalent organic framework with abundant intramolecular hydrogen bonds and a benzobisthiazole skeleton shows a superior specific capacitance of 724 F g⁻¹ at 1 A g⁻¹.

Two AIE block copolymers termed P1 and P2 bearing TPE and PEG-based chains were synthesized with moderate molecular weights and narrow PDIs via RAFT polymerization. Both P1 and P2 can be used in the fluorescence detection of nitroaromatic compounds (NACs) and cell images.

Ternary control over molecular weight, tacticity, and time was achieved in the polymerization of acrylamides by photo-induced organotellurium-mediated radical polymerization (TERP) in the presence of Y(OTf)₃ or Yb(OTf)₃ as an acid catalyst.

UCST-type poly(acrylamide-co-acrylonitrile) diblock copolymers synthesized in water (by PISA) can not only undergo reversible temperature-induced chain dissociation, but also temperature-induced morphological transition.

A dynamic but mechanically robust and tough polymer network was proposed, in which the fast room-temperature self-healing of our target polymer with mechanically robust and tough features is achieved under visible light.

Vitrimers, an emerging field of research, in which still many fundamental aspects of material design remain to be explored. Here, we systematically explore the effect of the choice of the matrix on a dynamic exchange reaction in a polymer network.

Thioester anhydride reversible addition and thiol–thioester reversible exchange are discussed as two competing mechanisms dictating the dynamic response in thiol–succinic anhydride dynamic networks.

Covalent adaptable networks (CANs) containing dynamic imine cross-links impart recyclability to thermoset materials, and the distribution of these cross-links greatly affects their observed thermomechanical properties.

The remote nonconjugated electronic perturbations exert great influence on ethylene polymerization.

New photoinitiators for 3D printing were in silico developed by molecular modeling.

Two thiazolothiazole-based polymers were designed and synthesized, which exhibited significantly different aggregation and photovoltaic properties.

In this study, three triphenylamine-based hexaarylbiimidazole (HABI) derivatives featuring different numbers of methoxy groups (none for HABI1, two for HABI2, and four for HABI3) have been synthesized.

Polycaprolactone based thermadapt shape memory polymers with precisely controlled structures allow tunable shape reconfigurability.

The investigation of the relationship between the structure of the catalyst and the microstructure of the obtained polymer has attracted much attention and broad interest in the field of transition metal-catalyzed olefin polymerization.

Imine bond crosslinked networks with tunable mechanical and dynamic properties are prepared by varying the precursor molecular weight and network crosslinking degree.

Cyanuric chloride (2,4,6-trichloro-1,3,5-triazine, TCT) was used as a catalyst to lower the ring opening polymerization (ROP) temperature of 1,3-benzoxazines.

Polybenzimidazole (PBI) random co-polymers containing alicyclic and aromatic backbones were synthesized using two different dicarboxylic acids (viz., cyclohexane dicarboxylic acid and terephthalic acid) by varying their molar ratios.

New 2-(diethylamino)-4,6-diphenyl-benzene-1,3-dicarbonitrile derivatives were proposed as photoinitiators in conjunction with iodonium salts for: (i) the cationic polymerization, (ii) the free-radical polymerization, and (iii) the synthesis of IPNs.

Ligand secondary interactions and Lewis acid modulation are simultaneously achieved in palladium and nickel catalyzed ethylene polymerization and copolymerization.

Polymer molecular weight distributions are targeted through kinetic modeled with high fidelity based on the temporal control of chain initiation in anionic polymerizations.