Inverse vulcanization is a potential route to the use of the large
excesses of elemental sulfur, creating high-sulfur-content polymers
with many potential applications. The addition of a metal diethyldithiocarbamate
catalyst was previously found to bring several benefits to inverse
vulcanization, making the process more attractive industrially. Herein
is reported the establishment and exploration of a library of catalysts
for inverse vulcanization. Three ranges of catalysts and up to 32
compounds and their combinations have been investigated. By trialing
these alternative catalysts, several tentative deductions about the
mechanism have been made. It has been found that stronger nucleophiles
give a greater rate enhancement, but with the tradeoff that harder
bases may promote hydrogen sulfide byproduct formation. Monomer binding
by the cation may be a crucial mechanistic step, and it is possible
that the catalysts act as phase transfer agents between the immiscible
sulfur and organic phases. Additionally, the versatility of catalytic
inverse vulcanization has been demonstrated with several different
comonomer families.
Inverse vulcanised sulfur polymer nanoparticles prepared by antisolvent precipitation–demonstrated as mercury ion absorbent in solution, showing high selectivity and capacity, and as membrane filters.
Inverse vulcanised polymers have received significant research attention on account of their easy, modifiable, and low-cost synthesis. These polymers are synthesized from the industrial by-product, elemental sulfur, resulting in a...
Sulfur-rich polymers
generated from the inverse vulcanization of
elemental sulfur with unsaturated monomers have emerged as a family
of organic polymers with unique functionalities and broad potential
applications. First described in 2013, inverse vulcanization is still
in its infancy regarding its fundamental development, property exploration
of the resultant polymers, and practical utilizations. Herein, the
robust properties of sulfur-rich composites generated by inverse vulcanization
with SiO2-embedded elemental sulfur are revealed, furnishing
superhydrophobicity with static water contact angles of up to 154.7
± 1.8°, a high anticorrosive effect of 98.9% protection
efficiency for Mg alloy in 3.5 wt % NaCl solution, and a good antibacterial
performance against Escherichia coli (81%) and Staphylococcus aureus (75%). The resulted
composite also shows excellent self-cleaning functionalities. This
has not only expanded the properties/functionalities and applications
of the sulfur-rich polymers resulting from inverse vulcanization but
also provided low-cost alternatives to superhydrophobic coating materials
for practical applications.
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