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Updated: May 25, 2026

Self-assembling Morphologies Obtained from Helical Polycarbodiimide Copolymers and Their Triazole Derivatives
Published on: February 7, 2017
Facile synthesis of supramolecular ionic polymers that combine unique rheological, ionic conductivity, and
M Ali Aboudzadeh1, M Eugenia Muñoz, Antxon Santamaría
1Institute for Polymer Materials (POLYMAT) and Grupo de Ingeniería Química, University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU), Joxe Mari Korta Center, Avda. Tolosa 72, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain.
Abstract:
A new family of supramolecular ionic polymers is synthesized by a simple method using (di-/tri-)carboxylic acids and (di-/tri-)alkyl amines. These polymers are formed by carboxylate and ammonium molecules that are weakly bonded together by a combination of ionic and hydrogen bonds, becoming solid at room temperature. The supramolecular ionic polymers show a sharp rheological transition from a viscoelastic gel to a viscous liquid between 30 and 80 °C. This sharp viscosity decrease is responsible for an unprecedented jump in ionic conductivity of four orders of magnitude in that temperature range. As a potential application, this chemistry can be used to develop polymeric materials with self-healing properties, since it combines properties from supramolecular polymers and ionomers into the same material.
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