Piezoelectrically Mediated Reversible Addition-Fragmentation Chain Transfer Polymerization

A well-controlled piezoelectrically mediated reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization (piezo-RAFT) was carried out under ultrasound agitation with piezoelectric ZnO nanoparticles as the mechano-chemical trans-ducer. The resulting polymer had predictable molecular weight, high end-group fidelity, low dispersity, and capacity for chain extension. This chemistry was further adopted in curing composite resins to circumvent the light penetration limit of UV curing. This work opened a new avenue of piezoelectrically mediated chemistry and showed its good potential in curing applications.