Poly(ionic liquid)s: marriage of ionic liquids and polymers for better materials*

This talk will focus on poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs), a class of multifunctional ionic polymers made up from ionic liquid (IL) monomers. The covalent linkage of IL species into polymeric chains or networks incorporates some unique properties of ILs into that of macromolecular architectures. This innovation in structure design catalyzes new chemistry and physics, and in turn expands the property and function window of ILs and traditional polyelectrolytes.^1-3
Though PILs initially played a merely supplementary role to ILs, the rapid advance in PIL research in the past decade has created a large toolbox of innovative polyelectrolyte structures, making the study of PILs far beyond the scope of IL research. They are of fundamentally important to polymer chemistry and physics, as they offer new elements and features. Meanwhile, benefiting from a large number of cations and anions in IL chemistry, PILs provide a variety of structure choices and materials solutions in other fields. This lecture highlights the behavior and function of ions in PIL bulk or solution, illustrating the importance of ion motion and ion-guest molecule interaction to determine their global materials property and fucntion.^4-6
References
1. Yuan, J.; Mecerreyes, D.; Antonietti, M., Prog. Polym. Sci. 2013, 38, 1009-1036.
2. Green, M. D.; Long, T. E.; Polym. Rev. 2009, 49, 291-314.
3. Qian, W.; Texter, J.; Yan, F.; Chem. Soc. Rev., 2017,46, 1124-1159.
4. Sun, J.-K.; Zhang, W.; Guterman, R.; Lin, H.; Yuan, J.,. Nat. Commun. 2018, 9, 1717.
5. Willa, C.; Yuan, J.; Niederberger, M.; Koziej, D., Adv. Funct. Mater. 2015, 25, 2537–2542.
6. Prescher, S.; Polzer, F.; Yang, Y.; Siebenbürger, M.; Ballauff, M.; Yuan, J., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136 (1), 12–15.