Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 8, 2026

Synthesis of Programmable Main-chain Liquid-crystalline Elastomers Using a Two-stage Thiol-acrylate Reaction
Published on: January 19, 2016
Strategic molecular conformation engineering enables significantly enhanced high-temperature energy storage in
Xianhui Dong1, Yan Wang1, Jiabin Fu1
1State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China. linadhu@dhu.edu.cn.
None:
To accommodate the advancement of next-generation power electronics toward high-level integration and miniaturization, it is imperative to develop polymer dielectrics that maintain superior energy storage performance under thermal extremes. Traditional aromatic polymers (e.g., polyetherimide, PEI) suffer from severe charge delocalization at elevated temperatures due to inherent charge-transfer complexes (CTCs) within their conjugated structures, resulting in sharply increased leakage current and deteriorated energy storage performance. In this work, we propose a molecular conformation engineering strategy that incorporates sterically hindered, twisted fluorine-substituted fluorene moieties into the PEI backbone, successfully decoupling the trade-off between thermal stability and high-efficiency energy storage. Integrating experimental characterization with theoretical calculations reveals the underlying mechanism by which molecular conformation engineering regulates macroscopic electrical performance from a multiscale perspective: the inherent rigidity of the fluorene skeleton provides a robust molecular scaffold that ensures thermomechanical reliability at elevated temperatures. Meanwhile, the non-coplanar, twisted geometry disrupts long-range π-π stacking, thereby hindering intermolecular charge transfer and synergizing with strategic fluorination to reduce leakage current through reinforced electron localization. Consequently, the optimized PEI-FFDA achieves a superior discharge energy density of 3.44 J cm-3 at 200 °C (10 Hz), approximately 2.5 times that of pristine PEI (1.38 J cm-3), with exceptional reliability over 105 cycles. This work establishes an effective molecular design paradigm for intrinsically robust high-temperature dielectrics.
More Related Videos
09:22Self-assembling Morphologies Obtained from Helical Polycarbodiimide Copolymers and Their Triazole Derivatives
Published on: February 7, 2017
15:33Microwave-assisted Functionalization of Poly(ethylene glycol) and On-resin Peptides for Use in Chain Polymerizations and Hydrogel Formation
Published on: October 29, 2013
Related Concept Videos
Polymer Classification: Architecture
Stability of Conjugated Dienes
A comparison of the enthalpies of hydrogenation of dienes reveals that conjugated dienes release less heat on hydrogenation, rendering them more stable than their nonconjugated analogs.
Types of Step-Growth Polymers: Polyesters
Polyesters are commonly prepared from terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol; the crude product is known as poly(ethylene terephthalate) or PET. However, polyesters are synthesized industrially by transesterification of dimethyl terephthalate with ethylene glycol at 150 °C. The two reactants and the polymer...
Polymer Classification: Stereospecificity
Polymer Classification: Crystallinity
Crystalline domains are the regions where polymer chains are aligned in an orderly manner and held together in proximity by intermolecular forces. For example, chains in the crystalline domains of polyethylene and nylon are bound together by van der Waals...
Thermal Electrocyclic Reactions: Stereochemistry
Selection Rules: Thermal Activation
Conjugated systems containing an even number of π-electron pairs undergo a conrotatory ring closure. For example, thermal electrocyclization of (2E,4E)-2,4-hexadiene, a conjugated diene containing two π-electron pairs, gives trans-3,4-dimethylcyclobutene.