MAY POST-ARGET ATRP FUNCTIONALIZATION BE A GOOD WAY FOR POLYSTYRENE UP-CYCLING?

The notoriously poor (bio)degradability of vinyl polymers is due to their chemically stable backbone. To lower their environmental impact, it is strategic to intercalate labile bonds along the backbone. These weaker bonds could then be broken faster under environmental conditions, releasing more easily (bio)degradable fragments. By intercalation of disulfide bonds, chemical upcycling is also made possible since the released fragments have the same functionality at both ends (thiol-terminated telechelic shorter chains). These fragments can thus undergo polycondensation, either to reform the starting polymer or to be copolymerized into a novel material. The pursue of sustainability in polymers should show both in the final product as well as in the employed synthetic route. Meaning that, a sensible procedure to intercalate said labile bonds should be employed.