Organocatalyzed Controlled Radical Copolymerization toward Hybrid Functional Fluoropolymers Driven by Light

Photo-controlled polymerizations are attractive to tailor macromolecules of complex compositions with spatiotemporal regulation. In this work, with a convenient synthesis for trifluorovinyl boronic ester (TFVB), we report a light-driven organocatalyzed copolymerization of vinyl monomers and TFVB for the first time, which enabled the controlled synthesis of a variety of hybrid fluorine/boron polymers with low dispersities and good chain-end fidelity. The good behaviors of ON/OFF switch, chain-extension polymerizations and post-modifications further highlight the versatility and reliability of this copolymerization. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the combination of fluorine and boron could furnish copolymer electrolytes of high lithium-ion transference number (up to 0.83), bringing new opportunities of engineering high-performance materials for energy storage purposes.

Automated summary

In this work, a light-driven organocatalyzed copolymerization method using TFVB was reported for the controlled synthesis of a variety of hybrid fluorine/boron polymers with low dispersities and good chain-end fidelity. The combination of fluorine and boron was shown to provide high-performance copolymer electrolytes with a high lithium-ion transference number, offering new opportunities for engineering high-performance materials for energy storage.