Chemically Recyclable CO2-Based Solid Polyesters with Facile Property Tunability

Synthesizing chemically recyclable solid polymeric materials is a significant strategy to potentially achieve carbon neutral production of new polymers and alleviate plastic pollution, especially when the synthesis is based on CO2 and inexpensive co-feedstocks available in large scales. Additionally, polymeric materials should have high enough molecular weight to exhibit distinguished properties from low molar mass polymers to serve for a broader range of application scenarios. However, up to now, strategies for developing solid-state CO2-based chemically recyclable polyesters with both high molecular weight and facile property tunability are still unprecedented. Herein, a brand-new synthetic route is developed to synthesize chemically recyclable CO2-based solid polyesters with high molecular weight (M-n up to 587.7 kg mol(-1)) and narrow dispersity (D < 1.2), which should further broaden the potential application scenarios of new CO2-based polyesters. Additionally, complete monomer recovery from poly(delta LH2) material is also achieved. The preserved terminal alkene groups allow facile property tuning of the polyesters via photo-initiated thiol-ene click reactions, enabling more potential utilities and further functionalizations.

Automated summary

Combining the high molecular weight and property tunability of chemically recyclable CO2-based solid polyesters is an important strategy to achieve carbon neutral production of new polymers and alleviate plastic pollution.