Abstract: Fluorinated polymers have the characteristics of low surface energy, heat resistance, corrosion resistance, and low dielectric constant, and have played an important role in fields such as national defense, aerospace, microelectronics, medical, and new energy. However, many traditional fluorinated polymers (such as polytetrafluoroethylene) are difficult to dissolve, melt, and chemically inert, which poses difficulties for processing and post-modification. At the same time, in traditional free radical polymerization, it is difficult to control the molecular weight and chemical structure of fluorinated polymers, which limits the preparation of high-end fluorinated materials. In recent years, the research group has proposed a synthesis strategy that utilizes "fluorine affinity" to promote the growth of fluorinated active chains based on photo induced redox regulation of active radical polymerization. A photocatalytic fluorinated monomer active polymerization system has been established, achieving precise control of the molecular weight, distribution, sequence structure, and topological structure of fluorinated polymers. The unique physicochemical properties of new fluorinated polymers have been revealed, providing new ideas for the design of fluorinated polymer electrolytes, high-end fluorinated coatings, and other directions.
Reported by: Chen Mao obtained his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Wuhan University in 2011 and later went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States to pursue postdoctoral research. In 2016, he joined the Department of Polymer Science and the State Key Laboratory of Polymer Molecular Engineering of Fudan University as a researcher and doctoral advisor, and has been a professor since 2021. The main research directions include developing precise synthesis methods for fluorinated polymers, designing and synthesizing high-performance fluorinated polymer materials, exploring the application of cutting-edge technologies such as flow chemistry and machine learning in polymer chemistry (research group homepage: www.polymaolab. cn). Hosted National Natural Science Foundation Youth Program, General Program, National Overseas High level Talent (Youth) Program, Shanghai Basic Research Special Zone Program, etc. Since working independently, as the corresponding/co corresponding author at Nat Material, Nat. Synth, J. Am. Chem SOC., Angelw Chem I have published over 50 SCI papers in important journals in this field, such as Int. Ed., Chem, ACS Energy Lett. I have received honors such as ACS PMSE Young Investigator Award, Dow Innovation Challenge Award, Thieme Chemistry Journals Award, etc.
