Thermoplastic elastomers based on polyesters/carbonates have the potential to maximize recyclability, degradability and renewable resource use. However, they often underperform suffer from familiar trade-off between strength extensibility. Herein, we report well-defined reprocessable poly(ester-b-carbonate-b-ester) with impressive tensile strengths (60 MPa), elasticity (>800 %) recovery (95 %)....

A cobalt salen pentenoate complex [salen=(R,R)-N,N?-bis(3,5-di-tertbutylsalicylidene)-1,2-cyclohexanediamine] is rationally designed as the catalyst for ring-opening copolymerization (ROCOP) of epoxides/anhydrides/CO2. Via migratory insertion carbon monoxide (CO) into Co?O bonds, ROCOP-active species ?-alkene-?-O-CoIII(salen) can be rapidly and quantitatively transformed ?-alkene-?-O2C-CoIII(sa...

Hydroxyl radical (OH) oxidation of toluene produces ring-retaining products: cresol and benzaldehyde, and ring-opening products: bicyclic intermediate compounds and epoxides. Here, firstand later-generation OH oxidation products from cresol and benzaldehyde are identified in laboratory chamber experiments. For benzaldehyde, first-generation ring-retaining products are identified, but later-gene...

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) has been synthesized by ring-opening polymerization of octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) in microemulsion with acidic catalyst. The structure and properties of microemulsion were characterized by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Photo Correlation Spectroscopy (PCS). The effect of the variation in pH value, amoun...

The effects of polymerization kinetics and chemical miscibility on the crosslinking structure and mechanical properties of polymers cured by visible-light initiated free-radical/cationic ring-opening hybrid photopolymerization are determined. A three-component initiator system is used and the monomer system contains methacrylates and epoxides. The photopolymerization kinetics is monitored in si...

Direct polymerization of CO2 and diols is promising as a simple and environmental-benign method in place of conventional processes using high-cost and/or hazardous reagents such as phosgene, carbon monoxide and epoxides, however, there are no reports on the direct method due to the inertness of CO2 and severe equilibrium limitation of the reaction. Herein, we firstly substantiate the direct cop...

Unlike aromatic polycarbonates, aliphatic polycarbonates (APCs) have been little explored commercially. However, their low toxicity and biodegradability make them excellent candidates for biomedical applications. Recently, they have also been investigated as thermoplastics, binders for photovoltaics, polymer electrolytes and adhesives. Part of this renewed attention stems from the possibility t...