Charge Ahead – Moderated Ionic Bonding for Processable Polyelectrolyte Complex Materials

Summary

Plastics are an integral part of daily life but have also left a lasting impact on our planet. While many everyday plastics can be recycled, a subcategory of plastics —thermosets— is much harder to reuse. Thermosets form a permanent chemical network during production, which makes them strong and resistant to heat and chemicals, but makes recycling practically impossible. This work introduces a novel class of materials that charges ahead in the search for circular alternatives. These materials, called compleximers, replace traditional chemical interconnecting bonds with ionic bonds, using the attraction between opposite charges to hold the structure together. These bonds are carefully tuned to be both strong yet dynamic, allowing the material to still be reshaped and recycled without losing its durability. This work presents new pathways toward sustainable materials and the broader implementation of ionic interactions