• Mota-Morales, Josue

Abstract

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) and their related family of liquids are based on the depression of the melting point of their original constituents when mixed, thanks to their self‐association driven by hydrogen bonding, to form liquids below 100 °C. They emerged at the beginning of the twenty‐first century as designer solvents with low or negligible vapor pressure and the ability to dissolve a wide range of both organic and inorganic solutes. Their non‐volatility under high temperatures or low pressure, recyclability, the great plasticity in terms of composition, and their simple preparation in pure state have positioned DESs in the spotlight of materials science for multiple applications. In the specific case of polymerizations, i.e. the chemical reactions that allow the formation of macromolecular chains or networks from monomeric units, the application of DES chemistry is in its infancy. Polycondensations and free‐radical stand as the most studied mechanisms of polymerization, whether the monomers are dissolved in a DES or are taking part of it, as either hydrogen bond donor (HBD) or hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA). However, pioneering works on living/controlled free‐radical, ring opening, electrochemical, enzyme‐mediated, photopolymerizations, and other non‐conventional mechanisms of polymerization, have started to appear in the literature. The applications explored are as diverse as hydrogels and particles for drug delivery systems, biomaterials and scaffolds for tissue engineering, supports for solid phase separation and chromatography, selective adsorbents for CO2 and other targets, strain and electrochemical sensors, and flexible electrodevices, among others. In this chapter a general survey of the last findings on polymers and related materials and polymeric composites that used DES is presented, with emphasis on the opportunities that DESs offer for the design and synthesis of polymeric materials within a sustainable framework.

Topics

• impedance spectroscopy
• polymer
• phase
• composite
• Hydrogen
• plasticity
• biomaterials
• chromatography