Synthesis of supramolecular sulfur-containing polymers using supramolecular science approaches

Abstract

Sulfur is produced as a byproduct of oil refining and is a surplus resource with 7 million tons dumped above ground every year. Since sulfur-containing polymers can be synthesized from sulfur, a surplus resource, they are attracting attention from the perspective of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Furthermore, since sulfur exhibits unique properties such as high capacitance, high refractive index, and reversible bond formation and dissociation, it is expected to be applied to battery materials, lenses, and self-healing materials. Sulfur-containing polymers can be easily obtained by simply heating sulfur and vinyl compounds to high temperatures. However, the resulting sulfur-containing polymers have low solubility, instabilityand low molecular weight, making it difficult to implement them in society despite their potential to create highly functional materials. In this review, we describe supramolecular sulfur-containing polymers developed by the authors to solve theseproblems by introducing the supramolecular concept of self-assembly of molecules through weak interactions into sulfurcontaining polymers.