Regensburg 2019 – scientific programme

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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik

CPP 24: Focus: Mechanoresponsive Molecules and Materials - organized by Kerstin Blank and Robert Göstl

CPP 24.5: Invited Talk

Tuesday, April 2, 2019, 12:30–13:00, H14

The challenges and opportunities of polymer mechanochemistry — •Roman Boulatov — University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

Polymer mechanochemistry is an emerging field at the interface of chemistry, materials science, physics and engineering. It aims at understanding and exploiting unique reactivities of stretched polymer chains. Macromolecules or their segments become stretched in bulk polymers under mechanical loads or when polymer solutions are sonicated or flow rapidly through abrupt contractions. Increasing amount of empirical data suggest that mechanochemical phenomena are widespread wherever polymers are used. In the past decade, empirical mechanochemistry has progressed enormously, from studying fragmentations of commodity polymers by simple backbone homolysis to demonstrations of self-strengthening and stress-reporting materials and mechanochemical cascades using purposefully designed monomers. Progress in developing the conceptual foundation of mechanochemistry has been more limited. I'll discuss this progress and the outstanding challenges facing polymer mechanochemistry.