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Refreshing Rubbers as Customized Photothermal Conversion Materials through Post‐Darkening Modeling Production
Author(s) -
Li Ruiting,
Wang Zhen,
Han Peng,
He Yonglin,
Zhang Xiaohong,
Wang Yapei
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201704715
Subject(s) - materials science , photothermal therapy , polymer , thermoplastic , conjugated system , nanotechnology , optoelectronics , composite material
Organic conjugated polymers with low energy bandgaps are emerging as a particular class of near‐infrared (NIR) photothermal conversion materials. However, these polymers routinely possess high phase transition temperatures due to the rigid skeleton and strong intermolecular interactions. Conjugated polymers can rarely be thermally processed at low temperature, especially below 100 °C. This work formulates a concept of post‐darkening modeling production ( p ‐DMP) by which the thermoplastic non‐conjugated trans ‐polyisoprene (TPI) is refreshed into a photothermal conversion material with high light use efficiency. Two steps, including the customizable shaping at low temperature and iodine vapor‐tailored “darkening”, ensure the ease of preparing photothermal conversion devices with desirable topologies. A few characterizations, with the combination of density functional theory (DFT) calculations, provide reasonable explanations for understanding the “darkening” process of TPI in iodine atmosphere. In particular, the p ‐DMP is successfully extended to three‐dimension (3D) printing, opening an avenue to fabricate personalized photothermal products, for example, a sunlight‐directed physiotherapy device for healthcare of articular tissues.