The Polymer Society of Korea

Abstract

Inverse vulcanization-based sulfur polymers initially emerged as a class of materials that enable the incorporation of high sulfur content derived from excess byproduct sulfur generated by the petroleum refining industry. Since their first development, considerable efforts have been devoted to broadening the thermomechanical property window of inverse-vulcanized sulfur polymers through molecular design, comonomer selection, and network modification. Despite these advances, the mechanical properties of sulfur polymer networks remain governed by trade-off relationships—most notably between stiffness, strength, and flexibility—thereby limiting the tunability of desired thermomechanical properties. As a result, achieving control over mechanical performance in sulfur polymer networks remains an outstanding challenge. Here, we present a network-structure-driven design strategy that enables the development of mechanically compliant sulfur polymers in inverse-vulcanized networks.