[2O12-26]
Inverse Vulcanization of Allyl Glycidyl Ether Derivatives for Tunable Mechanical, Thermal, and Electrical Properties
발표자정하연 (경희대학교)
연구책임자임지우 (경희대학교)
Abstract
Inverse vulcanization was first introduced by Pyun and co-workers in 2013 as a solvent-free polymerization strategy based on a radical- mediated reaction between molten sulfur and unsaturated organic comonomers. This approach provides an efficient means of converting surplus elemental sulfur, an inexpensive byproduct of petroleum refining, into functional polymeric materials. The resulting polymers are generally rich in sulfur, which has driven increasing interest in their application to optical components, energy-storage devices, and self-healing materials.
In our previous study, we showed that inverse vulcanization could be carried out in a single step using allyl glycidyl ether (AGE), a water-soluble heterobifunctional comonomer. Although AGE contains only a single carbon–carbon double bond, it readily reacted with elemental sulfur under bulk conditions to form vitrified, sulfur-rich polymers with improved mechanical properties. Building on this result, the present study expands this system to AGE derivatives incorporating ethylene glycol units of varying chain lengths. By varying the comonomer structure, the thermal, mechanical, and electrical properties could be systematically controlled. As the ethylene glycol spacer length increased, the copolymers showed lower glass transition temperatures, reaching values below 0 °C, and significantly improved elongation compared to sulfur–AGE materials, which also showed high dielectric permittivity.