Photoinduced oxygen-catalyzed RAFT polymerization using heterogeneous bionic enzymes

Abstract

Employing aerobic polymerization approaches is a feasible strategy to fundamentally address the phenomenon of oxygen blocked polymerization. A reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization system (COF/H₂O/O₂) using a photobionic enzyme was successfully constructed, in which a TFPPy-azine-COF serves as an enzyme-like workstation, oxygen and H₂O are substrates, and light is an externally tunable stimulus to generate hydroxyl radicals for catalysing the RAFT polymerization. Molecularly diverse COFs provide a well-documented heterogeneous platform for the design and development of recyclable oxygen-catalyzed RAFT polymerization systems.