Cross-linked silicone elastomers constructed with dynamic-covalent boronic esters are first synthesized by photoinitiated radical thiol-ene "click" chemistry. The resultant samples can be cut with a sharp knife into two pieces and then healed via the reversibility of the boronic ester cross-linkages to restore the original silicone sample within 30 min. Regulation of luminescent properties is achieved by incorporating organic dye into the elastomers through a "one-pot" thiol-ene reaction. The proposed synthesis procedure demonstrates a new strategy to produce boronic acid silicone materials capable of self-healing without external forces.
A simpler approach is developed to obtain recyclable self-healing polysiloxane networks based on the thiol-ene reaction and Diels–Alder (DA) reaction which found potential applications in recyclable adhesives especially for glass bonding.
Porous polymers are among the most promising porous materials for various application because they show the combined advantages of fluorescent porous materials and polymers. This study developed a cell imaging technique based on luminescent porous organosilicon polymers (LPOPs) that were synthesized via Friedel-Crafts reaction of octaphenylcyclotetrasiloxane with octavinylsilsesquioxanes. The porous organosilicon polymers possessed narrow pore-size distribution, high surface area, and monomodal nanopores centered at approximately 0.59 nm. The excellent properties to the porous polymers can be attributed to the fine structures of LPOPs. LPOP-2 owned the highest fluorescence intensity and micropore volume ratio in LPOPs and showed high selectivity for Fe detection and excellent sensitivity to nitroaromatic compound detection. Interestingly, these porous polymers still exhibited excellent responsiveness to Fe ion even when inside of living cells. We also fabricated a paper-based sensor using LPOP-2 to develop a simple method for visual detection of explosives. This rapid and visual paper sensor demonstrates promising application for explosive detection and can be expanded for the detection of other analytes.
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