Making the Best of Polymers with Sulfur-Nitrogen Bonds: From Sources to Innovative Materials

Polymers with sulfur-nitrogen bonds have been underestimated for a long time, although the intrinsic characteristics of these polymers offer a myriad of superior properties (e.g., degradation, flame retardancy, film-forming ability, good solubility in polar solvents, and high refractivity with small chromatic dispersions, among other things) compared to their carbon analogues. The remarkable characteristics of these polymers result from the unique chemical properties of the sulfur-nitrogen bond (e.g., its polar character and the multiple valence states of sulfur), and thus open excellent perspectives for the development of innovative (bio)materials. Accordingly, this review describes the most common chemical approaches toward the efficient synthesis of these ubiquitous polymers possessing diverse sulfur-nitrogen bonds, and furthermore highlights their applications in multiple fields, ranging from biomedicine to energy storage, with the aim of providing an informative perspective on challenges facing the synthesis of sulfur-nitrogen polymers with desirable properties.