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Removable
Materials
Removable materials are attractive as
thermoplastic thermosets for a number of applications including thermally
labile adhesives, thermospray coatings and removable encapsulants or potting
agents. We are investigating three different thermally reactions and one
photochemically reversible reaction as the basis for “removable” materials.
In each case, the polymer forms under ambient conditions-temperature and
light-then depolymerizes with an increase in temperature or illumination.
While there have been numerous examples of organic polymers functionalized
in order to undergo reversible cross-linking, systems based on oligomers
or monomers that will reversibly polymerize are less known. We have focussed
on this class of reversible materials because they start and end with a
easily processible liquid and they permit the investigation of sol-gel processing
under thermodynamic conditions. The Diels-Alder based removable materials
will be be given as a sample of our research in this area.
Contact: Doug Loy
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