Fluoride‐Catalyzed Siloxane Exchange as a Robust Dynamic Chemistry for High‐Performance Vitrimers

Sustainable development of new technologies requires materials having advanced physical and chemical properties while maintaining reprocessability and recyclability. Vitrimers are designed for this purpose; however, their dynamic covalent chemistries often have drawbacks or are limited to specialize...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Advanced materials (Weinheim) 2023-07, Vol.35 (28), p.e2303280-n/a
Main Authors: Tretbar, Chase, Castro, Jordan, Yokoyama, Kosuke, Guan, Zhibin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Catalysis
Chemical properties
Compatibilizers
dynamic covalent chemistry
Exchanging
fluoride
Fluorides
Materials science
New technology
Oxidation resistance
plastic recycling
Polyethylene
Polymers
Polymethyl methacrylate
Production methods
Recyclability
Robustness
siloxane exchange
Siloxanes
Sustainable development
Vitrimers
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Summary:Sustainable development of new technologies requires materials having advanced physical and chemical properties while maintaining reprocessability and recyclability. Vitrimers are designed for this purpose; however, their dynamic covalent chemistries often have drawbacks or are limited to specialized polymers. Here, fluoride‐catalyzed siloxane exchange is reported as an exceptionally robust chemistry for scalable production of high‐performance vitrimers through industrial processing of commodity polymers such as poly(methyl methacrylate), polyethylene, and polypropylene. The vitrimers show improved resistance to creep, heat, oxidation, and hydrolysis, while maintaining excellent melt flow for processing and recycling. Furthermore, the siloxane exchange between different vitrimers during mechanical blending results in self‐compatibilized blends without any compatibilizers. This offers a general, scalable method for producing sustainable high‐performance vitrimers and a new strategy for recycling mixed plastic wastes. Fluoride‐catalyzed siloxane exchange is an exceptionally robust chemistry for scalable production of high‐performance vitrimers through reactive extrusion of commodity polymers such as poly(methyl methacrylate), polyethylene, and polypropylene. The vitrimers show improved resistance to creep, heat, oxidation, and hydrolysis, while maintaining excellent processability. Furthermore, the siloxane exchange between different vitrimers during mechanical blending results in self‐compatibilized blends without any compatibilizers.
ISSN:0935-9648
1521-4095
DOI:10.1002/adma.202303280