In this project funded by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professors Robert B. Grubbs and Surita R. Bhatia of the Department of Chemistry at Stony Brook University are developing new synthetic routes for the construction of sustainable and biodegradable polymer-based materials. Polymers or plastics consisting of many repeating units linked with carbon-carbon bonds have benefited our society in many different ways. Due to its light weight, durability and ability to conform to shape, plastic has helped aerospace technologies take giant steps forward over the past 50 years, including advancements in satellites, shuttles, aircraft, and missiles. In addition, the building and construction, electronics, packaging, and transportation industries have all benefited greatly from plastic materials. While chemists have created numerous ways to assemble carbon-carbon units into polymers, methodologies to disassemble them one-by-one are still very rare. This reverse process is crucial because it leads to polymer recyclability, therefore providing a green life-cycle for plastics that would otherwise accumulate in the environment. This project addresses the molecular recycling of polymers by providing new synthetic routes for the preparation of polymeric materials with programmable degradability. New classes of polymers that result from this work are expected to retain the physical properties of current plastics but with the added benefit of being recyclable. This work provides training and education to undergraduate and graduate students in synthetic polymer chemistry, and collaborative research activities involving researchers from underrepresented groups at a historically Black university (Prairie View University).
This research is focused on the design and synthesis of polymers modeled on existing acrylate and methacrylate backbones with the potential for similar physical and responsive properties but with programmable degradability. The research activities focus on the systematic investigation of the effects of initiators (alcohols and hydroxyl-terminated polymers), catalysts (triethylamines and other organic bases), and monomer structure (glyoxylate and glyoxamide monomers) on the control of the polymerization process. The incorporation of these different polyacetal and polythioacetal blocks with other polymer blocks into block copolymers is also investigated. The research is innovative and focuses on the properties and degradation of a class of polymers with high potential for industrial importance. The synthesized polymers are expected to have tunable thermoresponsivity, hydrophilicity, hydrophobicity and to be susceptible to photoinduced cleavage/degradation by acid.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
