Thermosets have been widely used in plenty of applications such as coatings, adhesives, composites, etc. due to their excellent chemical resistance, dimensional stability, thermal and mechanical properties which are much higher than thermoplastics, and are irreplaceable. Nevertheless, the arduous recycle of thermosets not only cripples the introduction and development of thermosetting polymers, but also severely impacts the recovery of downstream products such as carbon-fiber (CF) reinforced composites (CFRC), electronic packaging materials, coatings, etc. Recently, our lab has focused on developing acetal-based recyclable thermosets. A series of cyclic acetal thermosets with high performance and excellent degradability were developed. The degradability, degradation mechanism, and the thermal and mechanical properties of the thermosets were systematically investigated. The thermosets could be readily degraded in mild acidic conditions while kept stale in neutral and basic conditions. The glass transition temperature, tensile strength and modulus of the acetal epoxy resin were comparable to or even higher than bisphenol A epoxy resin. In addition, we pioneered novel malleable thermosets (or adaptable covalent networks) based on acetal linkage. The acetal thermosets exhibited excellent malleability, reprocessability, degradability and recyclability, and the performance could be easily modulated via adjusting the chemical structure of raw materials.

Synthesis and properties of readily recyclable thermosetting polymers based on acetal linkage

ACS Spring 2022

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