RSC Applied Polymers最新文献

{"title":"Unexpected crystallization barrier in partially miscible polymer blends – a new opportunity for tailoring self-reinforcing polymer materials","authors":"Robert D. L. Jerusalem, Michail Maricanov, Anas Kerkour el Miad, Hannah Keune, Frank Katzenberg and Joerg C. Tiller","doi":"10.1039/D6LP00013D","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D6LP00013D","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Polymers that can store mechanical energy administered shock-wise would be superior to simply shock absorbing elastic materials due to advanced safety and the ability to simultaneously store energy. A way to obtain such novel material properties is to design a polymeric system that is rubber-elastic and has the ability to form shape-stabilizing crystals upon strain while no such crystals are formed upon thermal crystallization. So far no such material exists. This study investigates, if cross-link partially miscible blends composed of semi-crystalline poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and amorphous poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (PEtOx) shows such behavior. Networks with a PVDF content of 65 wt% were found to inhibit the thermal crystallization of PVDF at ambient temperature by 69% of the maximal degree of crystallinity. Rapid stretching this material affords a strain-induced crystallization, which results in self-inforcement and stabilization of the stretched shape. The crystallization within these networks is inhibited even above the glass transition temperature (<em>T</em><small>_g</small>) of the blends. This unusual behavior is attributed to a local compositional segregation during formation of a minor fraction of seed crystals, which increases the local <em>T</em><small>_g</small> in the amorphous interphase between crystals and mixed amorphous blend that retains the lower mixture <em>T</em><small>_g</small>. The unexpected effect prevents further crystal growth even in a material with an overall <em>T</em><small>_g</small> below ambient temperature. The increased local <em>T</em><small>_g</small> is increasing the stiffness of the material, making it unsuitable as shock absorber, but the blend approach is a promising way towards rapid energy and shock absorbing materials.</p>","PeriodicalId":101139,"journal":{"name":"RSC Applied Polymers","volume":" 3","pages":" 1110-1119"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/lp/d6lp00013d?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148039657","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"3D UV printing with a polymeric ionic liquid and its gold nanoparticle-embedded composites","authors":"Susana Ferrufino Amador, Rudy White, Olivia Downey, Kayla Foy, Rachel Wynn, Hawa Khan, Megan O'Neil, Olivia McNair and Samrat Dutta","doi":"10.1039/D6LP00007J","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D6LP00007J","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Polymeric ionic liquids are a diverse class of ion-conducting materials with tunable properties that can advance the applicability of additive manufacturing. However, the potential of 3D UV printing of polymeric ionic liquids with metallic fillers for electronic applications remains somewhat limited. In this work, we formulated photocurable resins using a methacrylate-based ionic liquid monomer and a crosslinker, with and without gold nanoparticles as fillers. Our results show that centimeter-scale structures, both free-standing and bonded to a substrate, can be prepared straightforwardly from the formulations using commercial 3D UV printers. The printed structures exhibited high fidelity, a high degree of polymerization, and high thermal stability, with stiffness ranging from 0.2 GPa to 0.5 GPa. Increasing the content of gold nanoparticles in the ionic liquid composites increased the glass transition temperature from −23 °C to −3.5 °C. Polymers without gold nanoparticles had a conductivity of 10<small>⁻⁶</small> S cm<small>⁻¹</small>, which increased to 10<small>⁻⁴</small> S cm<small>⁻¹</small> in prints with 1 wt% of gold nanoparticles. 3D-printed resistors made from 1 wt% of gold nanoparticles maintained a stable current profile for several hours. Such a result highlights the potential to prepare ionic-liquid-based flexible electronic components using commercial 3D UV printers.</p>","PeriodicalId":101139,"journal":{"name":"RSC Applied Polymers","volume":" 3","pages":" 1120-1131"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/lp/d6lp00007j?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148039658","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Multifunctional ion-conductive hydrogels with self-healing, antifreeze, and water-retention capabilities for robust wearable sensing","authors":"Zhongyuan Lin, Ze Li, Xinpeng Lv, Yuhang Shen, Chunpeng Ai and Peng Li","doi":"10.1039/D6LP00011H","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D6LP00011H","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Conductive hydrogels have attracted attention in the field of wearable electronics due to their softness, biocompatibility, and ionic conductivity. However, challenges such as poor signal stability, limited environmental tolerance, and mechanical fragility hinder broader applications. Here, we report a multifunctional ionically conductive hydrogel (Li-gel) synthesized <em>via</em> a two-step process, featuring a polyvinyl alcohol/polyacrylamide (PVA/PAAm) dual network crosslinked with dynamic boronate ester bonds and doped with lithium chloride (LiCl). The hydrogel demonstrates self-healing capability under ambient conditions, and its mechanical strength can recover up to 80% of the original value. It achieves high ionic conductivity (1.1 S m<small>⁻¹</small>) through LiCl-mediated ion transport. LiCl also depresses the freezing point to −13.5 °C and enhances water retention, enabling over 90% mass retention after thermal dehydration and strong resistance to ambient water evaporation. Li-gel exhibits excellent transparency (&gt;90%) and adheres firmly to skin, glass, and plastic, which ensures robust interface stability. Strain-sensing tests yield a gauge factor of 2.00 at 100% strain, with rapid response speed, good strain rate adaptability, and high durability over 1000 stretching–releasing cycles. Altogether, Li-gel combines mechanical resilience, environmental adaptability, and reliable strain-sensing performance, providing a simple and multifunctional hydrogel design for wearable sensing applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":101139,"journal":{"name":"RSC Applied Polymers","volume":" 3","pages":" 1100-1109"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/lp/d6lp00011h?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148039656","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Multi-responsive polymers with degradable side-chain functionality for controlled hydrolysis and tunable thermal transition","authors":"Maryam Behzad Khoshgoee, Mithun Kumar Debnath, Griffin Pardo, Yichun Yuan, Muhammad Zeeshan, Erqian Mao, Thomas G. Gray, Burcu Gurkan, Matthew J. Bertin and Metin Karayilan","doi":"10.1039/D5LP00379B","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5LP00379B","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Stimuli-responsive polymers that integrate environmental sensitivity with controlled degradation offer powerful opportunities for next-generation biomedical materials. Here, we introduce a new class of multi-responsive terpolymers synthesized <em>via</em> reversible addition–fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization, incorporating comonomers with hydrolytically labile lactone (LMA) or cyclic carbonate (C<small>²</small>MA) side chains into thermoresponsive oligo(ethylene glycol)-based systems. By systematically tuning monomer composition, we achieved controlled modulation of cloud point temperature (<em>T</em><small>_cp</small>), viscosity, and degradation kinetics within the physiologically relevant window (25–37 °C). Cyclic carbonate-containing terpolymers exhibited lower viscosity, lower glass transition temperatures, and faster hydrolysis than lactone analogues, enabling facile injectability and time-dependent solubility transitions. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed distinct transition state geometries and energetics for lactone <em>versus</em> carbonate ring-opening, with cyclic carbonate hydrolysis kinetically favored. Hydrolysis-driven shifts in <em>T</em><small>_cp</small> linked side-chain chemistry to temporal control of thermal phase behavior. Notably, radiofrequency (RF)-induced heating triggered a rapid, localized temperature increase for lactone and cyclic carbonate terpolymers, demonstrating the potential for remote, on-demand actuation. Injectability tests in tissue-mimicking matrices revealed qualitatively sustained, localized release profiles governed by polymer viscosity and degradation rates. Consistent with these observations, dialysis-based dye release studies demonstrated composition-dependent release kinetics, where cyclic carbonate terpolymers exhibited faster payload release relative to lactone analogues. Collectively, this work establishes a versatile platform of hydrolytically and thermally programmable polymers, uniquely integrating physiological responsiveness with potential external triggering mechanisms for applications in injectable therapeutics, tissue adhesives, and smart biomedical interfaces.</p>","PeriodicalId":101139,"journal":{"name":"RSC Applied Polymers","volume":" 3","pages":" 984-1001"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/lp/d5lp00379b?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148039691","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Methacrylated gelatin-based conductive self-healing hydrogels: a dual-scale approach for micro- and macro-sized soft materials.","authors":"Didem Aycan, Maria Regato-Herbella, Fereydoon Taheri, Angeles De la Cruz-García, Sebastian Weber, Neslihan Alemdar, Christine Selhuber-Unkel","doi":"10.1039/d5lp00406c","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d5lp00406c","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Soft robotic microsystems, inspired by the flexibility of biological structures, have gained significant research interest due to their ability to navigate complex environments with high adaptability. Electroconductive hydrogels (ECHs) have emerged as promising materials for these systems, offering intrinsic softness, biocompatibility, and electrical conductivity. Here, we present an electroconductive hydrogel with multifunctionality developed using a dual-component conductive strategy, incorporating polyaniline (PANI)-silver (Ag) nanoparticles into a methacrylated gelatin (GelMa) network. The hydrogel was fabricated at two different length scales using complementary fabrication techniques. UV crosslinking was employed to produce macroscale hydrogels, while two-photon lithography was used to demonstrate the feasibility of fabricating microscale structures from the same material system. In addition to their structural versatility, the hydrogels exhibited self-healing behavior that enables autonomous recovery of both mechanical and electrical functionalities after damage, which is important for long-term operation in dynamic environments. Comprehensive characterization, including morphological, electrical, mechanical, and biological tests, confirmed the conductivity, cytocompatibility, and tunable mechanical properties of the hydrogel. The results suggest that this biopolymer-based, electroconductive hydrogel with self-healing ability is a highly promising candidate for next-generation soft robotic systems, offering a durable, adaptable, and bio-integrated solution for further soft robotic applications at both macro- and micro-scales.</p>","PeriodicalId":101139,"journal":{"name":"RSC Applied Polymers","volume":" ","pages":"1306-1325"},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13192397/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148019925","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Imidazolium-mediated poly(ionic liquid) hydrogels for multifunctional pollutant removal systems","authors":"Muhammed Yoosuf, Zhaksylyk Suiindik, Sudhir Ravula, Jason E. Bara and Irshad Kammakakam","doi":"10.1039/D5LP00361J","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5LP00361J","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Hydrogels, cross-linked polymer networks that swell enormously in water, have remarkably garnered significant attention as promising materials for various applications such as biomedical engineering, soft robotics, and environmental separation processes. In this study, we report the design and synthesis of imidazolium-mediated poly(IL) hydrogels as multifunctional materials for a wide-range of applications, including high pollutant removal efficiency, enhanced dye adsorption, and controlled drug delivery. To achieve our goal, we have strategically developed a photo-polymerizable bisimidazole monomer featuring three units of ethylene glycol (EG) chain as a spacer between two imidazole rings with a terminal vinyl group. The rational design of crosslinked network architectures within the imidazolium poly(IL) matrix has been exclusively targeted, whereby choosing an appropriate cross-linker, such as poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA), is anticipated to enhance the performance of the resultant hydrogels. Imidazolium crosslinking at three weight percentage levels affected the physical properties and performance of newly developed hydrogel matrices, which were extensively characterized by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), as well as their swelling and adsorption properties. Interestingly, the newly developed imidazolium-mediated poly(IL)-derived hydrogels exhibited outstanding adsorption and removal efficiency for both anionic dyes and pharmaceutical products from the aqueous medium. Precisely, while mercuric (HgCl<small>₂</small>) adsorption exhibited complete separation with a <em>q</em><small>_max</small> value of 217.5 mg g<small>⁻¹</small>, methyl orange (MO) showed adsorption with a <em>q</em><small>_max</small> value of 158.73 mg g<small>⁻¹</small>, revealing the remarkable ability of the newly developed imidazolium-mediated poly(IL) hydrogels to remove pollutants from water. Furthermore, the hydrogel with the optimal composition, [BImEG<small>₃</small>/PEGDA] [30 : 70], exhibited a good adsorption capacity of 127.22 mg g<small>⁻¹</small> for sodium diclofenac (DCl), presenting an interesting platform for both dye and drug adsorption systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":101139,"journal":{"name":"RSC Applied Polymers","volume":" 3","pages":" 1002-1014"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/lp/d5lp00361j?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148039726","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Polymeric sensors at the crossroads of sustainability and scalability: low-temperature fabrication for environmental and health monitoring","authors":"Suvitha S. Kumar, Berly Robert, Sreeram K. Kalpathy and Tiju Thomas","doi":"10.1039/D5LP00385G","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5LP00385G","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Modern industries are experiencing a dual transition: advancing toward sustainability (Industry 5.0) goals while simultaneously embracing Industry 4.0, characterized by Internet of Things (IoT)-driven smartification. This rapid expansion of interconnected devices is occurring in an era where conventional electronics remain fundamentally unsustainable, with persistent challenges in recycling, metal segregation, and circularity. This disconnect necessitates alternative material and fabrication strategies that can enable scalable sensor deployment without exacerbating environmental burdens. In this review, we analyze recent progress (over the last five years) in low-temperature fabricated polymer-driven sensors, focusing on their relevance for sustainable environmental and health monitoring. Advances across different polymer families and fabrication techniques are systematically examined, with evaluation from both sustainability and scalability perspectives. Special emphasis is placed on how these approaches address limitations of conventional high-temperature, resource-intensive processes and their applicability across sectors such as agriculture, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and chemicals. By examining current literature in light of the dual transition, the review identifies recent trends, outlines knowledge gaps, and highlights pathways for integrating polymer-based sensors into large-scale, environmentally responsible technologies.</p>","PeriodicalId":101139,"journal":{"name":"RSC Applied Polymers","volume":" 3","pages":" 861-891"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/lp/d5lp00385g?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148039697","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Bio-based vitrimers: chemistry, performance and applications","authors":"Edoardo Albertini, Sara Dalle Vacche and Alessandra Vitale","doi":"10.1039/D5LP00408J","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5LP00408J","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Despite being widely used in industrial applications, thermoset polymers arguably present a major challenge to modern society due to the near impossibility of their end-of-life recycling and reprocessing. Furthermore, there are difficulties in finding bio-based alternatives to the fossil-based building blocks used for their production that can deliver comparable mechanical performance. These limitations have driven growing interest in vitrimers, associative covalent adaptable networks capable of being recycled, welded and reprocessed without changes in cross-linking density through dynamic covalent exchange. Vitrimers provide a promising strategy to address both the recyclability of thermosets and the need for more sustainable materials. The use of bio-based chemicals in vitrimer production can further help reduce the environmental impact and toxicity, supporting the transition to circular polymer systems. This review summarizes recent advances in bio-based vitrimer systems, with particular emphasis on renewable feedstocks such as carbohydrates, lignin-derived aromatics, and vegetable oils, and their translation into functional materials. Rather than focusing solely on exchange chemistry concepts, the manuscript highlights the emerging applications of newly developed bio-based vitrimers in composites, packaging, additive manufacturing, adhesives, electronics, and foams. By organizing recent literature according to feedstock families and application domains, this work provides an updated, application-oriented perspective on the development of sustainable vitrimer technologies. Overall, bio-based vitrimers represent a promising platform for the development of next-generation recyclable thermosets within a circular and sustainable polymer framework.</p>","PeriodicalId":101139,"journal":{"name":"RSC Applied Polymers","volume":" 3","pages":" 892-922"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/lp/d5lp00408j?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148039698","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Low band gap π-conjugated porous polymers as bifunctional photoelectrocatalysts for overall water splitting","authors":"Bantumelli Prachuritha, Pranav Utpalla, Dasari Sai Hemanth Kumar and Krishnamurthi Muralidharan","doi":"10.1039/D5LP00398A","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5LP00398A","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) are gaining attention for their unique structural properties and impressive charge transfer in electrochemical reactions. They are efficient bifunctional photoelectrocatalysts for crucial processes like the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and overall water splitting reaction (OWSR). The challenge in designing CMPs is achieving precise control of p-type and n-type behaviours within the polymer chain for specific photoelectrocatalytic reactions. We synthesized CMPs <em>via</em> Schiff-base condensation, tailoring their semiconducting properties and achieving band gaps under 1.6 eV by adjusting the acceptor to donor (A/D) ratio during synthesis. The CMP (designated as PDM1:2) with high donor content showed excellent properties for photoelectrocatalysis. It featured a semicrystalline morphology, resulting in impressive Tafel slopes (33 mV dec<small>⁻¹</small> for the OER, 122 mV for the HER) and overpotentials (<em>η</em><small>₁₀</small>) (230 mV for the OER, 229 mV for the HER, and 1.69 V for the OWSR). The CMPs showed better catalytic performance under light and consistently performed over 500 cycles with excellent stability for 24 hours. These findings emphasize the importance of optimizing the A/D molar ratio in the polymer framework to improve the separation and migration of photogenerated charge carriers. This optimization led to improved photoelectrocatalytic performance for prolonged OWSRs. We developed a prototype exhibiting the bulk photoelectrocatalytic behaviour of our CMPs in facilitating the OWSR.</p>","PeriodicalId":101139,"journal":{"name":"RSC Applied Polymers","volume":" 3","pages":" 1086-1099"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/lp/d5lp00398a?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148039655","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Systematic investigation of urea containing sidechains in electrochromic ProDOT and EDOT copolymers","authors":"Md Mahmudul Hasan, Raul S. Ramos, Kavish Saini, Md Shahjahan Mahmud, Ashley Morales, Adrian Bocanegra Richarte, Michael Lyubchenko, Sreeprasad T. Sreenivasan, Yirong Lin and Robert M. Pankow","doi":"10.1039/D5LP00413F","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D5LP00413F","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Strategies for the sidechain engineering of conjugated polymers have advanced to include H-bonding functional groups, such as amides, carbamates, and amino acid derivatives, enabling new capabilities in emerging organic electronic device technologies. However, this has been limited to secondary amides and carbamates with limited examples of urea functional groups. Here, the systematic investigation of both the alkyl substituent and the inclusion of a H-bonding urea functional group is reported for a series of 3,4-propylenedioxythiophene (ProDOT) and 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) copolymers to determine how both modification of the alkyl substituent on ProDOT [hexyloxy (C6) or decyloxy (C10)] and the functional group on EDOT [phthalimide (Ph) or urea (Ur)] alters the optical, electrochemical, and electrochromic properties. The polymers (PC6-Ph, PC6-Ur, PC10-Ph, and PC10-Ur) were synthesized <em>via</em> direct arylation polymerization, and fully characterized <em>via</em> ATR-FTIR, high-temperature NMR, MALDI-TOF, DSC, TGA, AFM, and SEM. ATR-FTIR, NMR, and MALDI-TOF revealed the desired functional groups were retained in the polymer. It was found that the optical and electrochemical properties showed a greater dependence on the pendant substituent identity (phthalimide or urea) rather than the alkyl substituent. Electrochromic characterization revealed a dependence on both the alkyl substituent and functional group identity where proper pairing could yield a 50% reduction in switching time and desirable coloration efficiencies (up to 93 cm<small>²</small> C<small>⁻¹</small>). Overall, these findings provide a comprehensive analysis of both the role of the alkyl substituent identity and the inclusion of a urea functional group guiding the future molecular design of electrochromic polymers.</p>","PeriodicalId":101139,"journal":{"name":"RSC Applied Polymers","volume":" 3","pages":" 1075-1085"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2026/lp/d5lp00413f?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148039731","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}