Kei Saito

Photo-dimerisation reactions that can be reversed upon application of an appropriate wavelength of light have generated a considerable interest in the development of new photo-responsive polymeric systems for diverse applications. The incorporation of photo-dimerisable moieties into polymers allows the fabrication of various polymer architectures with an added advantage of reversibility. This review focuses on polymeric systems that exploit photo-reversible dimerisation reactions and their appli

Plastic waste, which is one of the major sources of pollution in the landfills and oceans, has raised global concern, primarily due to the huge production rate, high durability, and the lack of utilization of the available waste management techniques. Recycling methods are preferable to reduce the impact of plastic pollution to some extent. However, most of the recycling techniques are associated with different drawbacks, high cost and downgrading of product quality being among the notable ones.

Recent developments on the synthesis and flocculation efficiency of several non-ionic, cationic, anionic and amphoteric polymers are presented and summarised.

A diamine cross-linker with thermal reversible Diels–Alder (DA) adducts of furan and maleimide groups has been designed and synthesised, which can be used to crosslink commercial epoxy monomers to achieve self-healing, cross-linked epoxy polymers. This new strategy to make self-healing epoxy polymer was successfully proved by incorporating the cross-linker with a widely used epoxy monomer, the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A. The self-healing property of the new epoxy polymer was shown by comple

The green aspects of the lignin-derived monomers and polymers have been analysed. A different viewpoint has been provided to encourage researchers to use simple and yet effective green metrics calculations in the development of sustainable syntheses.

Three of the major ligninolytic enzymes, lignin peroxidase (LiP), manganese peroxidase (MnP), and laccase (LA), as well as the secretome of a white-rot fungi, Grammothele fuligo, are tested on three industrial lignins (organosolv, alkali, and Kraft), to investigate and study the differences in biodegradation reactions and mechanism of these three lignins. Strategies involving additives in laccase mediated systems were also considered to produce small phenolic compounds. Three new or underreporte

The first example of chemical depolymerization of lignin involving the redistribution mechanism with phenols in water with a copper catalyst was demonstrated. By using this new method, lignin can be depolymerized under mild conditions such as at 80 °C, atmospheric pressure. This invention is the first demonstration of the depolymerization of lignin using chemical degradation with phenols. The depolymerized oligomeric lignin can be repolymerized and form a polymer by the esterification of hydroxy

Green polymerization: The simple stirring of 2,6-dimethylphenol with an excess of oxidant or a catalytic amount of a copper complex in an alkaline aqueous solution yields poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenyleneoxide), a commercially important polymer (see scheme). The formed polymer was easily separated as an off-white powder by filtration. Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW under http://www.wiley-vch.de/contents/jc_2002/2004/z52764_s.pdf or from the author. Please note: The

Solid-state topochemical polymerization is one way to synthesize novel macromolecular architectures with stereoregular chain structures. Topochemical reactions are attractive, “green” synthetic pathways in material design, since they occur in solvent-free conditions and in response to external stimuli, such as heat and light. For the first time, we have used the reversible [2π + 2π]-cycloaddition of a bioinspired bis-thymine monomer to topochemically synthesize a polymer. The polymer can be full

Two anthracene-based diamine crosslinkers were used to cure a range of commercially available monomers to produce four highly photoreversible crosslinked epoxy polymers. Through careful selection of the epoxy monomers used, the properties of the resultant polymer networks were varied to create a coating material that possessed room-temperature light-stimulated healing. Of the four coatings created, the best healing performance was exhibited by the two most flexible systems, both of these also ex

A simple nanostructured, photoresponsive film made from a coumarin-modified tetrafunctional monomer, which is both photodegradable and photoreproducible, was prepared using a simple spin-coating process and UV irradiation. The film produced from this system self-healed scratches using only UV light, with no need for catalyst, heat, or other stimuli. The photoreversible mechanism was investigated, and a range of techniques were used to characterize the resultant photoproducts after the polymeriza

A bio-based methacrylic polymer derived from a green solvent, Cyrene™ through a green synthesis pathway with very high glass transition temperature, thermal stability and high reactivity.

Crosslinked acrylate polymers with coumarin crosslinker displayed a light (UV) only triggered self-healing property.

We investigate how the application of photocuring has addressed unique challenges through inherent benefits of the methodology or inventive chemistries.