Water-Soluble Reversible Photo-Cross-Linking Polymer Dielectrics.

Effective recycling of mixed materials requires the separation of the different components without the need for toxic solvents. One approach involves utilizing a water-soluble coating with reversible photo-cross-linkers, making it robust until end of life where it can then be dissolved in water after de-cross-linking. Here, a novel coumarin methacrylate monomer and its nitroxide-mediated copolymerization to create poly((methacrylic acid)-co-(styrene sulfonate)-co-(coumarin methacrylate)) for water-soluble thin films are reported.