Jun 3, 2025

US12319787 - Method for directly creating a film of 2D polymers from monomer solutions

Two-dimensional (2D) polymers and methods for their formation are described herein. To create oriented 2D polymer films, monomers are combined with processing additives within a solvent, creating a solution that can be cast and dried to remove the solvent and form a solid film. The methods can enable transformation of the monomers into oriented films. Film quality can be controlled via multiple processing parameters, including monomer and additive concentrations, shear and elongational flow rates during casting, evaporation rates, and post-process rinsing, buffering, stretching, and thermal treatments. By combining stiff carbon-containing cyclic polymer nodal units with more compliant linear polymer bridge units in an ordered, 2D repeating molecular structure it is possible to tailor the mechanical properties of 2D polymers and their assemblies to provide high stiffness, strength, and toughness. The 2D polymer can also be combined with other 2D materials, linear polymers, or reinforcing materials to create 2D polymer composites.

Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
Inventors: David C. McLeod, Robert H. Lambeth, III, Kevin R. Waters, Emil J. Sandoz-Rosado, Eric D. Wetzel
Filing date: 2021-03-08

This patent describes a method for producing two-dimensional (2D) polymer films by combining specific monomers in a solvent, followed by a reaction to form a 2D bond network and solvent removal. The resulting films exhibit tailored mechanical properties due to the structured arrangement of nodal and bridge units within the polymer.

Claim 1

A method of producing a two-dimensional (2D) polymer film comprising: (a) providing one or more first monomers comprising three or more reactive groups per molecule; (b) providing one or more second monomers comprising two or more reactive groups per molecule; (c) dissolving or dispersing the first and second monomers in a solvent; (d) reacting the first and second monomers to form 2D bond network; (e) removing the solvent, wherein the first and second monomers are selected so as to form 2D polymer comprising: a regular, repeating, 2D bond network of (i) a plurality of nodes comprised one or more nodal units which are joined by (ii) one or more linear polymer bridge units, wherein: (vii) the bridge units are between 0.1-100 nm long; (viii) each node is bonded to 3 or more bridge units; (ix) the bridge units maintain the overall planarity of the 2D polymer, wherein the majority of bonds of the bridge units and their adjacent nodal units are located within a limiting distance measured perpendicularly from a single plane upon which the molecule substantially lies corresponding to three times the length of a carbon-carbon single bond; and (x) the polymer comprises a single molecule having a length greater than 50 nm in both lateral in-plane dimensions. (a) providing one or more first monomers comprising three or more reactive groups per molecule; (b) providing one or more second monomers comprising two or more reactive groups per molecule; (c) dissolving or dispersing the first and second monomers in a solvent; (d) reacting the first and second monomers to form 2D bond network; (e) removing the solvent, wherein the first and second monomers are selected so as to form 2D polymer comprising: a regular, repeating, 2D bond network of (i) a plurality of nodes comprised one or more nodal units which are joined by (ii) one or more linear polymer bridge units, wherein: (vii) the bridge units are between 0.1-100 nm long; (viii) each node is bonded to 3 or more bridge units; (ix) the bridge units maintain the overall planarity of the 2D polymer, wherein the majority of bonds of the bridge units and their adjacent nodal units are located within a limiting distance measured perpendicularly from a single plane upon which the molecule substantially lies corresponding to three times the length of a carbon-carbon single bond; and (x) the polymer comprises a single molecule having a length greater than 50 nm in both lateral in-plane dimensions. (vii) the bridge units are between 0.1-100 nm long; (viii) each node is bonded to 3 or more bridge units; (ix) the bridge units maintain the overall planarity of the 2D polymer, wherein the majority of bonds of the bridge units and their adjacent nodal units are located within a limiting distance measured perpendicularly from a single plane upon which the molecule substantially lies corresponding to three times the length of a carbon-carbon single bond; and (x) the polymer comprises a single molecule having a length greater than 50 nm in both lateral in-plane dimensions.

Google Patents

https://patents.google.com/patent/US12319787

USPTO PDF

https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/12319787