Organic polymers have been found widespread commercial applications due to their easy processing and attractive mechanical properties. Concurrently, inorganic polyoxometalates (POMs), a class of metal–oxygen anionic and nanosized clusters of early transition metals, have a wide range of attractive functions and are used in industrial catalysis. In this communication, we report a new approach to creating the first linear poly(polyoxometalate)s that combine the advantages of polymers and POM clusters. In the experiment, a POM-containing norbornene monomer was first synthesized by linking a Wells-Dawson-type POM with a norbornene derivative. The monomer was polymerized in the presence of a Grubbs catalyst under mild conditions with yields nearly 100% in a living and controllable manner. The resulting poly(polyoxometalate)s have controllable molecular weights and a well-defined hybrid structure of an organic polynorbornene backbone with large pendant groups of the nanosized POM clusters. Thus, they form good films and have a good catalytic performance. Our findings not only pave the way for incorporating the POM clusters into polymers with well-defined structures and high molecular weights, but also offer a competitive strategy for developing more novel catalytic systems by introducing the poly(polyoxometalate)s.

A pyrene derivative as the donor and a butyl-viologen as the acceptor were used to construct a novel charge-transfer cocrystal consisting of mixed-stacking structure and having switchable photoconductivity stemming from the donor-acceptor heterojunctions within the lattice.

A poly(polyoxometalate)-polymer hybrid block copolymer (H-BCP) was prepared via ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). The H-BCP self-assembles into hybrid micelles with a poly(polyoxometalate) shell and a polymer core in acetonitrile.

Uniform AgCl nanocubes with an average size of about 360 nm have been synthesized. Under UV illumination, a layer of silver nanoparticles with surface plasmon resonance was produced and covered the surface of AgCl particles in a short time, and the Ag/AgCl particles remained quite stable as shown in XRD patterns. The as-synthesized AgCl particles were tried for the first time as photoinitiator to polymerize N-isopropylacrylamide under UV-irradiation, and a high efficiency and conversion rate were realized. The structure of the polymers was studied by FTIR spectrophotometer. The results of turbidimetric method showed that the polymers were temperature sensitive and their lower critical solution temperature was about 33 °C. The effects of photoinitiators concentration, monomers concentration, and irradiation time on the polymer yield were investigated. The reaction mechanism was discussed by using salicylic acid as scavengers of hydroxyl radicals and conducting the reaction under oxygen atmosphere, respectively. The results proved that hydroxyl radicals were essential to chain initiation.