Supramolecular modification of sustainable high-molar-mass polymers for improved processing and performance.

The plastic waste crisis is among humanity's most urgent challenges. However, widespread adoption of sustainable plastics is hindered by their often inadequate processing characteristics and performance. Here, we introduce a bio-inspired strategy for the modification of a representative high molar mass, biodegradable aliphatic polyester that helps overcome these limitations and remains effective at molar masses far greater than the entanglement molar mass.

Polymethylene Brushes via Surface-Initiated C1 Polyhomologation.

Surface-initiated polymerization reactions are a powerful tool to generate chain-end-tethered polymer brushes. This report presents a synthetic strategy that gives access to structurally well-defined hydrocarbon polymer brushes of controlled molecular weights, which can be further modified to generate more complex surface-attached polymer architectures. The hydrocarbon brushes reported in this study are polymethylene brushes that are obtained via surface-initiated C1 polyhomologation of dimethylsulfoxonium methylide.

Tuning the Thermoresponsive Behavior of Surface-Attached PNIPAM Networks: Varying the Crosslinker Content in SI-ATRP.

The synthesis and thermoresponsive properties of surface-attached poly(-isopropylacrylamide)--,'-methylene bisacrylamide (PNIPAM--MBAM) networks are investigated. The networks are formed SI-ARGET-ATRP ("grafting-from") on thiol-based initiator-functionalized gold films. This method is reliable, well controlled, fast, and applicable to patterned surfaces (, nanopores) for networks with dry thicknesses >20 nm.

Hydrothermal Generation of Conjugated Polymers Using the Example of Pyrrone Polymers and Polybenzimidazoles.

Various polyimides and polyamides have recently been prepared via hydrothermal synthesis in nothing but H O under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions. However, none of the prepared polymers feature a truly conjugated polymer backbone. Here, we report on an expansion of the synthetic scope of this straightforward and inherently environmentally friendly polymerization technique to the generation of conjugated polymers.