Method for producing and chemically recycling a crosslinked thiol-based photopolymer

Abstract

A method for producing and recycling a crosslinked photopolymer is disclosed. The method includes mixing reactive thiols, multifunctional alkenes, and a photoinitiator to create a homogeneous mixture that is crosslinked through exposure to light. The method also includes decrosslinking the crosslinked photopolymer through base-catalyzed thiol-disulfide exchange reactions by mixing the crosslinked photopolymer with a reactive thiol, a base catalyst, and a solvent to create a decrosslinked material including recycled thiol oligomers which are reactive. The method further includes removing the base catalyst and the solvent and recrosslinking the recycled thiol oligomers by mixing stoichiometric amounts of the recycled thiol oligomers and a reactive alkene such that a molar ratio between thiol end groups and ene end groups is maintained at 1:1. The method includes adding a photoinitiator and mixing to create a homogeneous mixture, and recrosslinking the homogeneous mixture through exposure to light. The recrosslinked photopolymer includes dynamic disulfide bonds.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.