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Degradable PE-Based Copolymer with Controlled Ester Structure Incorporation by Cobalt-Mediated Radical
Tianyou Zeng1, Wei You2, Guang Chen1
1Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Science, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
Abstract:
Polyethylene (PE) is one of the most widely used materials in the world, but it is virtually undegradable and quickly accumulates in nature, which may contaminate the environment. We utilized the cobalt-mediated radical copolymerization (CMRP) of ethylene and cyclic ketene acetals (CKAs) to effectively incorporate ester groups into PE backbone as cleavable structures to make PE-based copolymer degradable under mild conditions. The content of ethylene and ester units in the produced copolymer could be finely regulated by CKA concentration or ethylene pressure. Also, the copolymerization of ethylene and CKA with other functional vinyl monomers can produce functional and degradable PE-based copolymer. All the formed PE-based copolymers could degrade in the presence of trimethylamine (Et3N).
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