Depolymerizable Polymers or Low-Ceiling Temperature Polymers refer to polymeric materials that can undergo depolymerization to revert the materials to their monomers at relatively low temperatures such as room temperature. For example, the ceiling temperature Tc for formaldehydeis 119 °C and that for acetaldehyde is -39 °C.
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Introduction
Unlike stable polymers such as PVCs that have high thermal stability, depolymerizable polymers and closely related self-immolative polymers can be triggered by stimuli to break fast under moderate to low temperatures. The first type of the polymers, poly (olefin sulfone), was reported by Snow and Frey in 1943 and was further confirmed by Dainton and Ivin.
Applications
The first application is transient electronics. In the past several decades, for electronic industry, the research focus has been on the durable and high-strength polymeric materials. However, today with the fast growing consumer electronic products and environmental concerns on electronic wastes, the need for sustainable, recyclable materials becomes important. For example, a group of researchers employed light-sensitive poly(phthaladehyde) as substrate materials for circuits. The destruction of the polymer substrate was triggered by UV irradiation (~379 nm).