Speaker
Description
Vitrimers are a class of crosslinked polymers that combine the mechanical robustness of thermosets with the reprocessability of thermoplastics, owing to dynamic covalent bonds that allow the network to rearrange under an external stimulus, typically heat. Despite the well-established chemistry behind these dynamic bonds, controlling and predicting the reactivity of vitrimeric systems remains key to rationally designing materials with tailored processability and performance.
This contribution presents different case studies illustrating this design principle across different epoxy/anhydride formulations. By combining epoxy and anhydride monomers with different chemical structures it is possible to simultaneously tune the curing reactivity, the transesterification kinetic and the final properties of the material. Furthermore, the reaction kinetics are strongly influenced by the curing temperature, which governs network formation and directly affects the efficiency of transesterification processes. An appropriate selection of the catalyst enables precise control over transesterification kinetics, thereby promoting rapid stress relaxation and efficient property recovery.
Overall, these results demonstrate how the optimization of monomer chemistry, curing conditions and catalyst selection provides an effective strategy for designing vitrimeric epoxy networks with tailored recyclability, reprocessability and thermomechanical performance.
| Conference Topics | Polymer-based materials – Sustainability and Circularity |
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