Degradable PE-Based Copolymer with Controlled Ester Structure Incorporation by Cobalt-Mediated Radical Copolymerization under Mild Condition

Tianyou Zeng; Wei You; Guang Chen; Xuan Nie; Ze Zhang; Lei Xia; Chunyan Hong; Changle Chen; Yezi You

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2020.100904

Degradable PE-Based Copolymer with Controlled Ester Structure Incorporation by Cobalt-Mediated Radical Copolymerization under Mild Condition

iScience. 2020 Mar 27;23(3):100904. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.100904. Epub 2020 Feb 13.

Authors

Tianyou Zeng¹, Wei You², Guang Chen¹, Xuan Nie¹, Ze Zhang³, Lei Xia¹, Chunyan Hong⁴, Changle Chen⁵, Yezi You⁶

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Science, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
² Nano Science and Technology Institute, University of Science and Technology of China, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Science, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China. Electronic address: zze320@mail.ustc.edu.cn.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Science, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China. Electronic address: hongcy@ustc.edu.cn.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Science, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China. Electronic address: changle@ustc.edu.cn.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Science, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China. Electronic address: yzyou@ustc.edu.cn.

Abstract

Polyethylene (PE) is one of the most widely used materials in the world, but it is virtually undegradable and quickly accumulates in nature, which may contaminate the environment. We utilized the cobalt-mediated radical copolymerization (CMRP) of ethylene and cyclic ketene acetals (CKAs) to effectively incorporate ester groups into PE backbone as cleavable structures to make PE-based copolymer degradable under mild conditions. The content of ethylene and ester units in the produced copolymer could be finely regulated by CKA concentration or ethylene pressure. Also, the copolymerization of ethylene and CKA with other functional vinyl monomers can produce functional and degradable PE-based copolymer. All the formed PE-based copolymers could degrade in the presence of trimethylamine (Et₃N).

Keywords: Green Chemistry; Organic Chemistry; Polymers.