Simple Solvent-Free Strategy for Synthesizing Covalent Adaptable Networks from Commodity Vinyl Monomers
Luzhi Zhang, Zenghe Liu, Lijie Sun, Lijuan Xiao, Qingbao Guan, Zhengwei You
Abstract
Covalent adaptable networks (CANs) are polymeric networks containing dynamic covalent bonds. Vinyl CANs are the high-performance counterparts of vinyl thermoplastics and show great potential for use in industrial applications. However, they have not developed significantly because of their complex synthesis process, which involves the prefunctionalization of the monomers and multistep reactions, including solution polymerization. Herein, we present a solvent-free strategy for synthesizing vinyl CANs based on the oxime–urethane group. The dimethylglyoxime–urethane (DOU) cross-linker prepared in one-step was miscible with commodity vinyl monomers (methyl methacrylate and methyl acrylate) to produce DOU-CANs. DOU-CANs exhibited superior thermal and mechanical properties, high reprocessability and transparency, and greater creep and solvent resistance compared with conventional plastics. The use of commercially available raw materials and its simplicity make this strategy suitable for industrial adoption.