Harnessing autocatalytic reactions in polymerization and depolymerization
Rajeev Kumar, Zening Liu, Bradley S. Lokitz, Jihua Chen, Jan‐Michael Y. Carrillo, Jacek Jakowski, C. Patrick Collier, Scott T. Retterer, Rigoberto C. Advíncula
Abstract
Abstract Autocatalysis and its relevance to various polymeric systems are discussed by taking inspiration from biology. A number of research directions related to synthesis, characterization, and multi-scale modeling are discussed in order to harness autocatalytic reactions in a useful manner for different applications ranging from chemical upcycling of polymers (depolymerization and reconstruction after depolymerization), self-generating micelles and vesicles, and polymer membranes. Overall, a concerted effort involving in situ experiments, multi-scale modeling, and machine learning algorithms is proposed to understand the mechanisms of physical and chemical autocatalysis. It is argued that a control of the autocatalytic behavior in polymeric systems can revolutionize areas such as kinetic control of the self-assembly of polymeric materials, synthesis of self-healing and self-immolative polymers, as next generation of materials for a sustainable circular economy. Graphic Abstract