Force-Induced Selective Carbon-Carbon Bond Cleavage inMechanoresponsive Topochemical Polymers
Date
2025-09-18
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Advanced Materials
Abstract
Mechanoresponsive polymeric materials that respond to mechanical deformation are highly valued for their potential in sensors, degradation studies, and optoelectronics. However, direct visualization and detection of these responses remain significant obstacles. In this study, novel mechanoresponsive polybiidenedionediyl (PBIT) derivative topochemical polymers are developed that depolymerize under mechanical forces, exhibiting a distinct and irreversible color change in response to grinding, milling, and compression. This color change is attributed to the alteration of polymer backbone conjugation during elongated Carbon-Carbon (C─C) single bond cleavage. Quantum chemical pulling simulations on PBIT polymers reveals a force range of 4.3–5.0 nN associated with the selective cleavage of elongated C─C single bonds. This force range is comparable to that observed for typical homolytic mechanophores, supporting the mechanistic interpretation of homolytic bond scission under mechanical stress. C─C bond cleavage kinetic studies of PBIT under compression indicates that strong interchain interactions significantly increase the pressure needed to cleave the elongated C─C bonds. Additionally, PBIT polymer thin films are composited with polydimethylsiloxane to create free-standing and robust thin films, which can serve as ink-free and rewritable paper for writing and stress visualization applications. This advancement opens new possibilities for utilizing crystalline and brittle topochemical polymers in practical applications.
Description
©2025 The Author(s). Advanced Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This article was originally published in Advanced Materials. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202510482
Keywords
composite films, mechanoresponsive materials, stress visualization, topochemical polymers
Citation
Z. Wei, H. Kim, N. Haque, et al. “ Force-Induced Selective Carbon-Carbon Bond Cleavage in Mechanoresponsive Topochemical Polymers.” Adv. Mater. (2025): e10482. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202510482