Xingyu Liu , Xuanyue Hong , Yi Wang , Jun Lin , Jujun Ruan , Shaojian He
{"title":"High strength and mildly closed-loop recoverable epoxy vitrimer with dual reversible dynamic bonds","authors":"Xingyu Liu , Xuanyue Hong , Yi Wang , Jun Lin , Jujun Ruan , Shaojian He","doi":"10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2025.111657","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Currently, the primary limitation hindering the sustainable application of epoxy (EP) vitrimers lies in the inherent trade-off among high mechanical performance, efficient recovery capability and mild recycling conditions. To address this challenge, we designed an EP polymer that leverages the high rigidity of imine bonds and the rapid bond exchange of boronic ester linkages, simultaneously achieving high mechanical performance, efficient recovery capability, and mild-condition recyclability. The resulting material exhibits a high mechanical strength of 78.6 MPa, excellent recovery efficiency (>90 % after two cycles of crushing and then hot-pressing at 130 °C), and mild solvent-assisted closed-loop recycling. Furthermore, carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRPs) fabricated with this EP vitrimer demonstrated complete degradation in (solvent) within 30 min at 50 °C. The reclaimed carbon fibers (CF) retained pristine surface morphology and preserved 96 % of their original mechanical properties, enabling highly efficient and non-destructive recovery. These findings highlight the potential of this EP vitrimer system, offering a promising strategy for the sustainable development of polymer materials.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":406,"journal":{"name":"Polymer Degradation and Stability","volume":"242 ","pages":"Article 111657"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Polymer Degradation and Stability","FirstCategoryId":"92","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141391025004860","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"POLYMER SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Currently, the primary limitation hindering the sustainable application of epoxy (EP) vitrimers lies in the inherent trade-off among high mechanical performance, efficient recovery capability and mild recycling conditions. To address this challenge, we designed an EP polymer that leverages the high rigidity of imine bonds and the rapid bond exchange of boronic ester linkages, simultaneously achieving high mechanical performance, efficient recovery capability, and mild-condition recyclability. The resulting material exhibits a high mechanical strength of 78.6 MPa, excellent recovery efficiency (>90 % after two cycles of crushing and then hot-pressing at 130 °C), and mild solvent-assisted closed-loop recycling. Furthermore, carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRPs) fabricated with this EP vitrimer demonstrated complete degradation in (solvent) within 30 min at 50 °C. The reclaimed carbon fibers (CF) retained pristine surface morphology and preserved 96 % of their original mechanical properties, enabling highly efficient and non-destructive recovery. These findings highlight the potential of this EP vitrimer system, offering a promising strategy for the sustainable development of polymer materials.
期刊介绍:
Polymer Degradation and Stability deals with the degradation reactions and their control which are a major preoccupation of practitioners of the many and diverse aspects of modern polymer technology.
Deteriorative reactions occur during processing, when polymers are subjected to heat, oxygen and mechanical stress, and during the useful life of the materials when oxygen and sunlight are the most important degradative agencies. In more specialised applications, degradation may be induced by high energy radiation, ozone, atmospheric pollutants, mechanical stress, biological action, hydrolysis and many other influences. The mechanisms of these reactions and stabilisation processes must be understood if the technology and application of polymers are to continue to advance. The reporting of investigations of this kind is therefore a major function of this journal.
However there are also new developments in polymer technology in which degradation processes find positive applications. For example, photodegradable plastics are now available, the recycling of polymeric products will become increasingly important, degradation and combustion studies are involved in the definition of the fire hazards which are associated with polymeric materials and the microelectronics industry is vitally dependent upon polymer degradation in the manufacture of its circuitry. Polymer properties may also be improved by processes like curing and grafting, the chemistry of which can be closely related to that which causes physical deterioration in other circumstances.