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Reinventing Plastics

Introduction: Our goal is to design new classes of polymers that (i) provide desired properties to soft materials, while (ii) simultaneously enabling room-temperature depolymerization of the polymers to either inert small molecules or monomers. We reason that most plastics, adhesives, and other classes of soft materials need only last for the lifetime in which they are used (i.e., they don’t need to last forever). Hence, we are purposely building polymers that contain switches that enable their rapid and controlled degradation to defined small molecules.

Representative Publications:

  1. “Rapid, On-Command Debonding of Stimuli-Responsive Cross-Linked Adhesives by Continuous, Sequential Quinone Methide Elimination Reactions”, Kim, H.; Mohapatra, H.; Phillips, S. T.* Chem. Int. Ed., 2015, 54, 13063–13067.
  2. “Depolymerizable poly(benzyl ether)-based materials for selective room temperature recycling”, Baker, M. S.; Kim, H.; Olah, M. G.; Lewis, G. G.; Phillips, S. T.*; Green Chem. 2015, 17, 4541–4545.
  3. “Surface-Accessible Detection Units in Self-Immolative Polymers Enable Translation of Selective Molecular Detection Events Into Amplified Responses in Macroscopic, Solid-State Plastics”, Yeung, K.; Kim, H.; Mohapatra, H.; Phillips, S. T.*; J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2015, 137, 5324–
  4. “Self-Immolative Poly(4,5-dichlorophthalaldehyde) and its Applications in Multi-Stimuli-Responsive Macroscopic Plastics”, DiLauro, A. M.; Lewis, G. G.; Phillips, S. T.* Chem. Int. Ed., 2015, 54, 6200–6205.
  5. “Continuous Head-to-Tail Depolymerization: An Emerging Concept for Imparting Amplified Responses to Stimuli-Responsive Materials”, Phillips, S. T.*; DiLauro, A. M. ACS Macro Lett. 2014, 3, 298–304.
  6. “End-Capped Poly(benzyl ethers): Acid and Base Stable Polymers That Depolymerize Rapidly from Head-to-Tail in Response to Specific Applied Signals”, Olah, M. G.; Robbins, J. S.; Baker, M. S.; Phillips, S. T.* Macromolecules 2013, 46, 5924–
  7. “Reproducible and Scalable Synthesis of End-Cap-Functionalized Depolymerizable Poly(phthalaldehydes)”, DiLauro, A. M.; Robbins, J. S.; Phillips, S. T.* Macromolecules 2013, 46, 2963–2968.
  8. “Stimuli-Responsive Core-Shell Microcapsules With Tunable Rates of Release by Using a Depolymerizable Poly(phthalaldehyde) Membrane”, DiLauro, A. M.; Abbaspourrad, A.; Weitz, D. A.; Phillips, S. T.* Macromolecules 2013, 46, 3309–3313.
  9. “Accessibility of Responsive End-Caps in Films Composed of Stimuli-Responsive Depolymerizable Poly(phthalaldehydes)”, DiLauro, A. M.; Zhang, H.; Baker, M. S.; Wong, F.; Sen, A.; Phillips, S. T.* Macromolecules 2013, 46, 7257–7265.
  10. “Patterned Plastics that Change Physical Structure in Response to Applied Chemical Signals”, Seo, W.; Phillips, S. T.* J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2010, 132, 9234–9235.