Advances in Controllable Degradation and Recycling of Elastomers Based on Dynamic Covalent Chemistry

Elastomers play a crucial role in many fields such as aerospace and automotive manufacturing due to their unique elasticity and durability. However, it is difficult to recycle and reuse after being discarded, resulting in significant resource waste and environmental pollution. Dynamic covalent chemistry based on reversible dynamic covalent bonds is characterized by reversible dissociation and reassociation abilities. Covalent adaptive network derived from dynamic covalent chemistry is regarded as a revolutionary polymer network. This network endows polymers with self-healing, reprocessing and recycling capabilities in different environments, achieving unique advantages in polymer synthesis and performance regulation. Therefore, dynamic covalent crosslinked elastomers can not only exhibit excellent performance during use, but also undergo degradation and recycling under specific conditions after use. In comparison with hot pressing recycling, degradation recycling can achieve monomer recovery and reuse while reducing environmental effects, bringing higher economic benefits. The current research advance of degradation and recycling of elastomers based on dynamic covalent bonds is reviewed. By exploring the degradation mechanism and performance of different types of dynamic bonds, the characteristics and potential applications of these new elastomers are discussed in detail. Elastic materials based on dynamic covalent chemistry are expected to play a greater role in environmental protection and resource recycling in the future.