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Sulfur Applications in Unusual Polymers

05.07.2020

Most of the sulfur goes to the production of sulfuric acid and mineral fertilizers, but there is still too much "unnecessary" sulfur. It is cheap, it is usually stored in the open air in the form of real sulfur mountains several tens of meters high. And this creates problems: firstly, the wind carries dust particles of sulfur, and secondly, under the influence of atmospheric oxygen and various microorganisms, sulfur is gradually oxidized up to sulfuric acid.

In all this, there is nothing good either for the environment or for the people and animals living near such places. Therefore, many chemists have been struggling with the problem of what useful things can be done from sulfur for many years. And great success in this was achieved by a group of researchers from the University of Liverpool.

Scientists have developed a method of "reverse vulcanization" - the synthesis of an unusual polymer based on sulfur. The essence of "normal" vulcanization is that long mobile polymer molecules, for example, natural rubber are sewn together by short "bridges", for example, from the same sulfur, making the material more durable. This method is the basis for rubber production. During vulcanization, sulfur acts as a kind of molecular paper clip.

However, sulfur has a unique feature - it can itself form quite long chains. And here it becomes possible to do the opposite - to use sulfur not as paper clips for polymers, but as a polymer itself. True, such sulfur chains in their pure form turn out to be short-lived and rather quickly fall apart into fragments. This is where "reverse vulcanization" comes in handy, the purpose of which is to cross-link long and brittle sulfur polymer molecules with small molecules.

Thanks to reverse vulcanization, it is possible to turn large volumes of "useless" sulfur into a completely useful polymeric material. Recently, researchers from the University of Liverpool and the University of Flinders presented new results - they managed to significantly improve the characteristics of the "sulfur polymer" by developing a technology for its production in two separate stages (they make it possible to obtain a polymer with the required characteristics), and in addition, to show that such polymers materials can be repaired after damage and even recycled.

If this technology is developed, then we will be able not only to solve the problem of an excess of sulfur obtained from oil and gas, but also to create completely new and cheap polymeric materials.

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