Description:

Chemistry Department Colloquium

Title: 2D Interlocked Polymerizations in the Solid State

Abstract: Mechanically interlocked polymers, materials composed of a high density of mechanical bonds, are hypothesized to provide a unique combination of flexibility and toughness. However, due to synthetic limitations of necessarily complex monomers, mechanically interlocked macromolecules remain difficult to access. In early 2025 we overcame these hurdles to report the first instance of a 2D mechanically interlocked material (MIM), an all-new polymer architecture. Within our 2D MIM, the 2D lattice is formed by 1D polymers held together in the 2nd dimension entirely by mechanical bonds. These chainmail-like materials were formed through a novel topochemical polymerization strategy which leverages the supramolecular interactions of alcohol moieties present within the monomer to preorganize monomers into the interlocked structure in molecular crystals. These crystals are then reacted with exogenous comonomers to form the 2D MIM. With this novel architecture in hand we performed the first characterization of a 2D MIM and the first mechanical studies of this material both in bulk and within composites. I will present the synthesis of 2D MIMs, the expansion on this polymerization method that facilitated the production of over 0.5 kg 2D MIM, and our recent progress forming 2D MIMs with varied surface chemistry. Further, I will show that this polymerization technique is generalizable and has allowed us to add reactive handles to the surface of these novel polymers in an effort to modulate the supramolecular interactions of individual polymer sheets. 

Hosted by the Graduate Liaison Committee (GLC)