High-performance pan-tactic polythioesters with intrinsic crystallinity and chemical recyclability

Area of Science:

• Polymer Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Sustainable Polymers

Background:

• Designing circular polymers with both high performance and recyclability faces challenges like depolymerizability/performance, crystallinity/ductility, and stereo-disorder/crystallinity trade-offs.
• Existing polymer designs often compromise between mechanical properties and chemical recyclability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel monomer design strategy for creating polythioesters that overcome key design trade-offs.
• To develop polymers exhibiting both high performance and full chemical recyclability.

Main Methods:

• A monomer design strategy utilizing a bridged bicyclic thiolactone was employed.
• Synthesis of polythiolactones with tunable tacticities, ranging from stereo-disordered to perfectly stereo-ordered.

Main Results:

• The synthesized polythiolactones exhibit intrinsic tacticity-independent crystallinity and chemical recyclability.
• Achieved tunable tacticities from stereo-disorder to perfect stereoregularity.
• Demonstrated combined high-performance properties including thermal stability, high crystallinity, mechanical strength, ductility, and toughness.

Conclusions:

• The novel monomer strategy successfully overcomes long-standing trade-offs in circular polymer design.
• These polythioesters offer a promising platform for developing high-performance, fully recyclable materials.