Upcycling of Waste Fluororubber to Photocurable High-Performance Vinyl-Terminated Liquid Fluororubber by Multifield Coupling One-Pot Stepwise Reactions.

To address the challenges of recycling and high-value utilization of waste fluororubbers, an effective method is reported for producing novel photocurable vinyl-terminated liquid fluororubbers (VTLF) with elevated fluorine content (63.1%), superior temperature resistance (T = 335 °C) from commercial waste fluororubbers. The approach employs a streamlined, multifaceted system (oxidative degradation/condensation reaction) integrating microwave, mechanical, and steady-state temperature fields.

Molecular Reconstruction for the High-Performance Recycled Fluororubbers.

To address the challenges associated with the difficult recycling of fluorinated specialty materials and the subpar performance of recycled products, a molecular reconstruction strategy of oxidative degradation, fluorination addition is reported, and end-group transformation, which upcycled waste fluororubber into high-performance, chemically awakenable amino-terminated low-molecular-weight fluoropolymer (ATLF-Boc). Leveraging the chemical properties of the vinylidene fluoride structure in the waste fluororubber, carboxyl-terminated low-molecular-weight fluoropolymer (CTLF) with controlled molecular weight and end-group content are synthesized. Further, the whole chain is structurally strengthened at the molecular scale to achieve higher fluorine content and thermal stability, and saturated carboxyl-terminated low-molecular-weight fluoropolymer (SCTLF) is synthesized.