Aerobic mechanochemical reversible-deactivation radical polymerization

Haoyang Feng, Zhe Chen, Lei Li, Xiaoyang Shao, Wenru Fan, Chen Wang, Lin Song, Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, Xiangcheng Pan, Zhenhua Wang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

Polymer materials suffer mechano-oxidative deterioration or degradation in the presence of molecular oxygen and mechanical forces. In contrast, aerobic biological activities combined with mechanical stimulus promote tissue regeneration and repair in various organs. A synthetic approach in which molecular oxygen and mechanical energy synergistically initiate polymerization will afford similar robustness in polymeric materials. Herein, aerobic mechanochemical reversible-deactivation radical polymerization was developed by the design of an organic mechano-labile initiator which converts oxygen into activators in response to ball milling, enabling the reaction to proceed in the air with low-energy input, operative simplicity, and the avoidance of potentially harmful organic solvents. In addition, this approach not only complements the existing methods to access well-defined polymers but also has been successfully employed for the controlled polymerization of (meth)acrylates, styrenic monomers and solid acrylamides as well as the synthesis of polymer/perovskite hybrids without solvent at room temperature which are inaccessible by other means.

Original languageEnglish
Article number6179
JournalNature Communications
Volume15
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2024

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