Carbon-Based Functional Polymers: Design, Properties and Applications

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomacromolecules, Biobased and Biodegradable Polymers".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 May 2023) | Viewed by 7345

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Key Laboratory of Structure and Functional Regulation of Hybrid Materials of Ministry of Education, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, Anhui, China
Interests: catalyst design; olefin polymerization; functional polymer; organometallic chemistry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Synthetic carbon-based polymers are structurally tunable materials integral to modern life, whether for commodity products, such as clothing, food packaging, or household goods, or for specialist applications, such as microelectronics, renewable energy generation, or robotics. The success story of carbon-based polymers has its origin in their close coupling with the liquid fuel industry, optimized production methods, low costs, and immense chemical diversity; these features allow material properties to be precisely tailored to a huge range of different applications. In recent years, the research of new carbon-based polymers synthesis, functionalization, and their applications is a hot topic that is rapidly evolving in both academia and industry. This Special Issue is devoted to the most recent research on these topics, covering all aspects including synthesis and application of novel carbon-based polymers and structure–property relationships of carbon-based polymers.

Dr. Shengyu Dai
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • polymer synthesis
  • polymer characterizations
  • polymer functionalization
  • polymer applications
  • polyolefin materials
  • functional polyolefin materials
  • biomass polymer materials
  • biodegradable polymer materials
  • free radical polymerization
  • coordination polymerization

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3826 KiB  
Article
Crosslinked Polynorbornene-Based Anion Exchange Membranes with Perfluorinated Branch Chains
by Dafu Cao, Xiaowei Sun, Huan Gao, Li Pan, Nanwen Li and Yuesheng Li
Polymers 2023, 15(5), 1073; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15051073 - 21 Feb 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1827
Abstract
To investigate the effect of perfluorinated substituent on the properties of anion exchange membranes (AEMs), cross-linked polynorbornene-based AEMs with perfluorinated branch chains were prepared via ring opening metathesis polymerization, subsequent crosslinking reaction, and quaternization. The crosslinking structure enables the resultant AEMs (CFnB) to [...] Read more.
To investigate the effect of perfluorinated substituent on the properties of anion exchange membranes (AEMs), cross-linked polynorbornene-based AEMs with perfluorinated branch chains were prepared via ring opening metathesis polymerization, subsequent crosslinking reaction, and quaternization. The crosslinking structure enables the resultant AEMs (CFnB) to exhibit a low swelling ratio, high toughness, and high water uptake, simultaneously. In addition, benefiting from the ion gathering and side chain microphase separation caused by their flexible backbone and perfluorinated branch chain, these AEMs had high hydroxide conductivity up to 106.9 mS cm−1 at 80 °C even at low ion content (IEC < 1.6 meq g−1). This work provides a new approach to achieve improved ion conductivity at low ion content by introducing the perfluorinated branch chains and puts forward a referable way to prepare AEMs with high performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon-Based Functional Polymers: Design, Properties and Applications)
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9 pages, 1837 KiB  
Article
Direct Synthesis of Partially Chain-Straightened Propylene Oligomers and P-MA Co-Oligomers Using Axially Flexible Shielded Iminopyridyl Palladium Complexes
by Huayin Sun, Huijun Fan, Chuangao Zhu, Wenping Zou and Shengyu Dai
Polymers 2023, 15(1), 111; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15010111 - 27 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1142
Abstract
In this study, a series of partially chain-straightened propylene oligomers and functional propylene–methyl acrylate (P-MA) co-oligomers were synthesized with 8-alkyl-iminopyridyl Pd(II) catalysts. The molecular weight and polar monomer incorporation ratio could be tuned by using Pd(II) catalysts with various 8-alkyl-naphthyl substituents (8-alkyl: H, [...] Read more.
In this study, a series of partially chain-straightened propylene oligomers and functional propylene–methyl acrylate (P-MA) co-oligomers were synthesized with 8-alkyl-iminopyridyl Pd(II) catalysts. The molecular weight and polar monomer incorporation ratio could be tuned by using Pd(II) catalysts with various 8-alkyl-naphthyl substituents (8-alkyl: H, Me, and n-Bu). In propylene oligomerization, all the 8-alkyl-iminopyridyl Pd(II) catalysts convert propylene to partially chain-straightened (119–136/1000 C) oligomers with low molecular weights (0.3–1.5 kg/mol). Among the catalysts, Pd1 with non-substituent (H) on the ligand showed the highest activity of 5.4 × 104 g/((mol of Pd) h), generating oligomers with the lowest molecular weight (Mn: 0.3 kg/mol). Moreover, polar-functionalized propylene-MA co-oligomers with very high incorporation ratios (22.8–36.5 mol %) could be obtained in the copolymerization using these 8-alkyl-iminopyridyl Pd(II) catalysts. Additionally, Pd1 exhibited the best performance in propylene-MA copolymerization as it displayed the highest MA incorporation ratio of up to 36.5 mol%. All the three catalysts are capable of generating partially chain-straightened P-MA co-oligomers and the activities decrease gradually while the molecular weight increases with the increasing steric hindrance of the alkyl substituent (H < Me < n-Bu). Compared to Pd4 with the rigid 8-aryl substituent, the flexible 8-alkyl-iminopyridyl Pd(II) catalysts (Pd1-3) not only showed much higher activities in the propylene oligomerization, but also yielded P-MA co-oligomers with significantly higher incorporation ratios in the propylene co-oligomerization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon-Based Functional Polymers: Design, Properties and Applications)
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11 pages, 3835 KiB  
Article
Direct Synthesis of Chain-End Toluene Functionalized Hyperbranched Ethylene Oligomers
by Jianhai Chen, Zhengpeng Yan, Zhongyuan Li and Shengyu Dai
Polymers 2022, 14(15), 3049; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14153049 - 28 Jul 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1400
Abstract
Chain-end functionalized polymers play an important role in the field of building complex macromolecular structures. In this study, we have synthesized and characterized four dibenzhydryl iminopyridine Ni(II) complexes bearing remote flexible substituents (Et and n-Bu) to provide hyperbranched ethylene oligomers in ethylene oligomerization [...] Read more.
Chain-end functionalized polymers play an important role in the field of building complex macromolecular structures. In this study, we have synthesized and characterized four dibenzhydryl iminopyridine Ni(II) complexes bearing remote flexible substituents (Et and n-Bu) to provide hyperbranched ethylene oligomers in ethylene oligomerization with moderate to good activities. Most notably, toluene-end-functionalized hyperbranched ethylene oligomers were obtained under elevated temperature conditions and validated by NMR. The tandem catalysis of ethylene oligomerization and the subsequent Friedel–Crafts addition of the resulting unsaturated products to toluene molecules was proposed as the cause of the observed phenomenon. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon-Based Functional Polymers: Design, Properties and Applications)
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10 pages, 3047 KiB  
Article
Integrating Boronic Esters and Anthracene into Covalent Adaptable Networks toward Stimuli-Responsive Elastomers
by Zhiyong Liu, Youwei Ma, Yixin Xiang, Xianrong Shen, Zixing Shi and Jiangang Gao
Polymers 2022, 14(6), 1104; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14061104 - 10 Mar 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2420
Abstract
Stimuli-responsive polymer materials have a promising potential application in many areas. However, integrating multi-stimuli into one elastomer is still a challenge. Here, we utilized boronic esters and anthracene to prepare a cross-linked poly(styrene-butadiene-styrene) (SBS) which was endowed with responsiveness to three stimuli (light, [...] Read more.
Stimuli-responsive polymer materials have a promising potential application in many areas. However, integrating multi-stimuli into one elastomer is still a challenge. Here, we utilized boronic esters and anthracene to prepare a cross-linked poly(styrene-butadiene-styrene) (SBS) which was endowed with responsiveness to three stimuli (light, heat, and alcohols). SBS was first functionalized with a certain amount of dihydroxyl groups via a thiol-ene “click” reaction between unsaturated double bonds in PB block and thioglycerol. Then, 9-anthraceneboronic acid was applied to form a cross-linked SBS network upon heat and ultraviolet radiation (λ = 365 nm). The prepared elastomer was demonstrated to be stimuli-responsive based on the dynamic nature of boronic esters and the reversible dimerization of anthracene. In addition, the mechanical properties of the elastomer could be regulated continuously owing to the stimulus responsiveness to ultraviolet or heat. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon-Based Functional Polymers: Design, Properties and Applications)
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