Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Environmentally Friendly Polymeric Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Centre of Photovoltaic Science and Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou 213164, Jiangsu, P. R. China.
Changzhou University Huaide College, Jingjiang 214500, Jiangsu, P. R. China.
J Am Chem Soc. 2023 Jul 5;145(26):14539-14547. doi: 10.1021/jacs.3c04746. Epub 2023 Jun 22.
Copolymerization of elemental sulfur (S) with vinyl monomers to develop new polymer materials is significant. Here, for the first time, we report the anionic hybrid copolymerization of S with acrylate at 25 °C, yielding a copolymer with short polysulfide segments; i.e., each of them consists of only one to four sulfur atoms. The formation of a longer polysulfide segment would be ceaselessly disrupted by carbon anions through the chain-transfer reaction. The copolymer of S with diacrylate was cross-linked and exhibited excellent mechanical properties, with an ultimate tensile strength as high as 10.7 MPa and a breaking strain of 22%. Furthermore, the introduction of tertiary amide groups to the copolymer enabled it not only to be reprocessed via press molding at room temperature but also to exhibit self-healing properties without external intervention. This study provides a facile strategy to synthesize high-performance sulfur-based copolymers under mild conditions.
单质硫（S）与乙烯基单体共聚以开发新型聚合物材料具有重要意义。在这里，我们首次报道了 S 与丙烯酸酯在 25°C 下的阴离子杂化共聚，得到了具有短多硫段的共聚物，即每个多硫段仅由一到四个硫原子组成。通过链转移反应，碳阴离子会不断破坏更长的多硫段的形成。S 与二丙烯酸酯的共聚物发生交联，表现出优异的机械性能，其拉伸强度高达 10.7 MPa，断裂伸长率为 22%。此外，在共聚物中引入叔酰胺基团，不仅可以使其在室温下通过压制模塑进行再加工，而且无需外部干预即可表现出自修复性能。本研究提供了一种在温和条件下合成高性能含硫共聚物的简便策略。
