Mechanochemical unzipping of insulating polyladderene to semiconducting polyacetylene

Abstract

In mechanochemistry, the application of force to a polymer is used to pry open specific chemical bonds. Chen et al. leveraged this technique to produce semiconducting blocks of polyacetylene in an insulating precursor. Ring-opening metathesis polymerization tethered together a series of fused four-carbon rings, reminiscent of the unusual ladderane membrane lipids of anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria. Subsequently, sonication unzipped these strained rings into alternating C=C double bonds, thereby extending π-conjugation along the polymer backbone.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Aug 04, 2017
Source ID
10.1126/science.aan2797

Entities

People

  • Jaron A Mercer
  • Joseph A H Romaniuk
  • Lynette Cegelski
  • Noah Z Burns
  • Raphael Pfattner
  • Todd Martinez
  • Xiaolei Zhu
  • Yan Xia
  • Zhixing Chen

Organizations

  • Army Research Office
  • National Science Foundation
  • Office of Naval Research
  • SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
  • Stanford University

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Chemistry

Readers

  • Materials Science and Engineering.
  • Organic Chemistry
  • Polymer Science and Engineering.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Graphene