Re-Mendable Polymers

Abstract

Polymers have become an indispensable material resource, representing billions of dollars worth of material consumption every year. The rising prices and exhaust of natural resources such as petroleum, combined with rising environmental concerns, have prompted the development of recyclable and degradable polymers. Polymers that can be reverted back to their monomers or to shorter repolymerizable oligomers, hence, reversible polymers are particularly enticing in this respect because they essentially prevent any material loss with multiple recycling. While reversible polymers have been known for a long time, there has been recent renewed interest in such polymers, since their reversibility can be exploited for repair at the molecular level.