Multi-cyclic Swelling for Self-regulated Growth of Covalently Crosslinked Polymers

De-Fu Zhu; Hong Wang; Jian Chen; Xin-Hong Xiong; Jia-Xi Cui

doi:10.1007/s10118-025-3268-z

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Multi-cyclic Swelling for Self-regulated Growth of Covalently Crosslinked Polymers

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2025-02-25

- Multi-cyclic Swelling for Self-regulated Growth of Covalently Crosslinked Polymers
- Multi-cyclic Swelling for Self-regulated Growth of Covalently Crosslinked Polymers
- 高分子科学（英文） 2025年43卷第3期页码：509-516
- Affiliations：
  
  a.Yangtze Delta Region Institute (Huzhou), University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Huzhou 313001, China
  b.Key Laboratory of Theoretical Organic Chemistry and Functional Molecule of Ministry of Education, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Controllable Preparation and Functional Application of Fine Polymers, Hunan Provincial Key Lab of Advanced Materials for New Energy Storage and Conversion, Hunan Province College Key Laboratory of QSAR/QSPR, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan 411201, China
  c.Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China Chengdu, Chengdu 611731, China
- Author bio：
  
  xinhongx@csj.uestc.edu.cn (X.H.X.)
  Jiaxi.Cui@uestc.edu.cn (J.X.C.)
- Funds：
  
  This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 52203135 and 52273206), Postdoctoral Fellowship Program of CPSF (No. GZC20230372), Huzhou Science and Technology Program Projects (No. 2023GZ18), Zhejiang Postdoctoral Research Project (No. ZJ2023133), Science and Technology Cooperation Fund Program of Chengdu-Chinese Academy of Science, Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation (No. 2021JJ10029), and Huxiang High-level Talent Gathering Project (No. 2022RC4039).
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-025-3268-z
  中图分类号：
- 收稿日期：2024-09-27，
  
  修回日期：2024-11-09，
  
  录用日期：2024-11-13，
  
  网络出版日期：2024-12-05，
  
  纸质出版日期：2025-03-01
- Accepted：
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Zhu, D. F.; Wang, H.; Chen, J.; Xiong, X. H.; Cui, J. X. Multi-cyclic swelling for self-regulated growth of covalently crosslinked polymers. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2025, 43, 509–516

De-Fu Zhu, Hong Wang, Jian Chen, et al. Multi-cyclic Swelling for Self-regulated Growth of Covalently Crosslinked Polymers[J]. Chinese journal of polymer science, 2025, 43(3): 509-516.
Zhu, D. F.; Wang, H.; Chen, J.; Xiong, X. H.; Cui, J. X. Multi-cyclic swelling for self-regulated growth of covalently crosslinked polymers. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2025, 43, 509–516 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-025-3268-z.

De-Fu Zhu, Hong Wang, Jian Chen, et al. Multi-cyclic Swelling for Self-regulated Growth of Covalently Crosslinked Polymers[J]. Chinese journal of polymer science, 2025, 43(3): 509-516. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-025-3268-z.

摘要

Repeating the cycle of swelling-polymerization expands crosslinked polymers and leads to multiple networks

in which the polymer chains in first network would be stretched

forming internal tension to self-restrict the size expansion.

Abstract

Organisms are capable of self-growth through the integration of the nutrients provided by the external environment. This process slows down when they grow. In this study

we mimicked this self-regulated growth

via

a simple swelling-polymerization strategy in which the stretching polymer chains in the original networks provide entropic elasticity to restrict growth in high growth cycles. Using typical covalently crosslinked polymers

such as acrylamide-based hydrogels and HBA-based elastomers

as examples

we demonstrate that the crosslinked polymers can absorb polymerizable compounds through a swelling-polymerization process to expand their sizes

but the growth extent becomes smaller with increasing growth cycle until reaching a plateau. In addition to their size

these materials become stiffer and exhibit less swelling ability in solvents. Our work not only provides a new growing mode to tune the properties of crosslinked polymers but also discloses the underlying mechanism of crosslinked polymers in multi-cyclic swelling conditions.

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references

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