On-demand upgrading of material properties with universal polymer crosslinkers Jeremy Wulff Department of Chemistry University of Victoria, Canada Adding chemical crosslinks between the chains of existing polymer materials provides increased mechanical strength, improved high-temperature performance, and enhanced solvent resistance. We developed a family of rationally designed, diazirine-based crosslinker reagents that allow for the facile introduction of strong covalent bonds to virtually any aliphatic polymer material, through rapid C–H, O–H, and N–H insertion reactions [1–3] . This presentation will focus on several recently published and not-yet-published applications of diazirine-based crosslinkers, which arise through operationally simple, topical treatment of existing polymer materials using these newly developed reagents. Selected applications may include: upgrading the mechanical strength of ballistic protective fabric [4] , construction of novel fiber-reinforced UHMWPE–epoxy composites [5] , development of self-sterilizing fabrics [6] , adhesion and dyeing of low-surface energy materials [7] , and enhancement of the mechanical robustness of omniphobic PDMS coatings [8] . Photopatterning applications in electronic materials and display technologies [9] will also be summarized. Recent improvements to crosslinker efficacy will also be presented [3] , and we will illustrate how an enriched understanding of diazirine chemistry led to an improved ability to upgrade the tear- and tensile-strength of high- performance fabrics [10] and to create a new class of recyclable thermosets from commodity plastics. References
1. M. L. Lepage et al., Science, 2019, 366, 875.C. 2. Simhadri et al., Chemical Science, 2021, 12, 4147. 3. S. F. Musolino et al., Chemical Science, 2021, 12, 12138. 4. M. L. Lepage et al., ACS Applied Polymer Materials, 2021, 3, 6008. 5. R. Nazir et al., ACS Applied Polymer Materials, 2022, 4, 1728. 6. T. J. Cuthbert et al., Scientific Reports, 2021, 11, 19029. 7. J. E. Wulff et al., Adhesives and Sealants, 2022, in press. 8. X. Zhao et al., Chemical Engineering Journal, 2022, 442, 136017. 9. S. Lu et al., Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2022, 61, e202202633. 10. S. F. Musolino et al., Polymer Chemistry, 2022, 13, 3833.
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© The Author(s), 2023
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