posted on 2015-01-20, 00:00authored byPhilip
T. Dirlam, Adam G. Simmonds, R. Clayton Shallcross, Kyle J. Arrington, Woo Jin Chung, Jared J. Griebel, Lawrence J. Hill, Richard S. Glass, Kookheon Char, Jeffrey Pyun
The synthesis of polymeric materials
using elemental sulfur (S8) as the chemical feedstock has
recently been developed using
a process termed inverse vulcanization. The preparation of chemically
stable sulfur copolymers was previously prepared by the inverse vulcanization
of S8 and 1,3-diisopropenylbenzene (DIB); however, the
development of synthetic methods to introduce new chemical functionality
into this novel class of polymers remains an important challenge.
In this report the introduction of polythiophene segments into poly(sulfur-random-1,3-diisopropenylbenzene) is achieved by the inverse
vulcanization of S8 with a styrenic functional 3,4-propylenedioxythiophene
(ProDOT-Sty) and DIB, followed by electropolymerization of ProDOT
side chains. This methodology demonstrates for the first time a facile
approach to introduce new functionality into sulfur and high sulfur
content polymers, while specifically enhancing the charge conductivity
of these intrinsically highly resistive materials.