Chemically-Triggered Synthesis, Remodeling, and Degradation of Soft Materials
Typical polymers, such as those used in plastics, are static structures whose material properties are not readily manipulated. Further, most plastics cannot degrade, and thus accumulate in the environment.- This works demonstrated a series of morphological changes could be induced with a small set of monomers due to the use of reversible covalent bonding interactions.
- Amphiphilic polymers, hydrogels, hydrophobic entities, and cross-linked matrices, could be all be interchanged by the addition of simple chemical triggers.
- Differences in rheology, strength, as well as gelling and optical properties, were easily controlled and manipulated with the chemical triggers.
- Finally, and maybe most significant, all the macromolecular structures were easily and rapidly converted (degraded) into small organic compounds with the treatment of a single chemical trigger.
Typical polymers, such as those used in plastics, are static structures whose material properties are not readily manipulated. Further, most plastics cannot degrade, and thus accumulate in the environment.
