Polymer mechanochemistry has attracted much attention since the mechanical force can induce the chemical reaction to the polymer which cannot be initiated by heat, light, electric and chemical reagent. It allows the researchers to develop unique functional materials such as force sensors, self-reinforcing materials. However, there is still a lack of understanding of the fundamentals that determine the mechanochemical reactivity of a polymer chain. One of the most important questions is that how does the side chain size affects the mechanochemical response of the polymers. To exploit the side chain effect, we focused on the dendronized polymers bearing well-defined dendritic side chain, which can be tuned at the molecular level by the proper design.<br/>In the presentation, I’ll describe the synthesis of the dendronized polymer composed of the polyphenylene dendron and their degradation behaviour. The systematic studies using the series of the well-defined dendronized polymers revealed that the size of the side chain affects the degradation rate of the polymers. We found the unexpected relationship between the molecular weight of the dendron and the degradation rate. Furthermore, the degradation kinetics and multi-angle laser light scattering (MALLS) analysis showed that the chain extension caused by bulky side chains plays an important role in the mechanochemical response of the polymers.

Ultrasound-induced chain scission of the dendronized polymers: The effect of side chains on the mechanochemical degradation

2019 Spring National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.