Exploiting exchangeable covalent bonds as dynamic cross-links recently afforded a new class of polymer materials coined as vitrimers. These permanent networks are insoluble and infusible, but the network topology can be reshuffled at high temperatures, thus enabling glasslike plastic deformation and reprocessing without depolymerization. We disclose herein the development of functional and high-value ion-conducting vitrimers that take inspiration from poly(ionic liquid)s. Tunable networks with high ionic content are obtained by the solvent- and catalyst-free polyaddition of an α-azide-ω-alkyne monomer and simultaneous alkylation of the resulting poly(1,2,3-triazole)s with a series of difunctional cross-linking agents. Temperature-induced transalkylation exchanges of C-N bonds between 1,2,3-triazolium cross-links and halide-functionalized dangling chains enable recycling and reprocessing of these highly cross-linked permanent networks. They can also be recycled by depolymerization with specific solvents able to displace the transalkylation equilibrium, and they display a great potential for applications that require solid electrolytes with excellent mechanical performances and facile processing such as supercapacitors, batteries, fuel cells, and separation membranes.
International audience1,2,3-Triazolium-based poly(ionic liquid)s containing a triethylene glycol spacer were synthesized from the polyaddition of an alpha-azide-omega-alkyne monomer by copper-catalyzed azide-allcyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) followed by quaternization reactions with alkyl halides and subsequent anion exchanges with different fluorinated salts. A detailed structure-property relationship for solubility, thermal stability, and ionic conductivity was investigated by means of H-1 NMR spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravinietric analysis (TGA), and broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS). One of these poly(ionic liquid)s with a methyl substituent and bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide anion exhibits an ionic conductivity of 2 x 10(-5) S cm(-1) at 30 degrees C, which is on par with the best PILs with side-chain charge carriers reported so far and is much higher than any previously reported ionenes. The straightforward synthesis along with the broad structural design and enhanced properties of this new class of poly(ionic liquid)s offer both fundamental and applicative perspectives
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