Backbone Editing of Natural Rubber for Sustainable Flexible Electronics
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Sustainable electronics offer a path to reducing the environmental burden of electronic waste, but achieving closed-loop recyclability in flexible organic devices remains challenging because most stretchable substrates and elastomers are non-recyclable, petroleum-derived thermosets. Natural rubber ( cis -1,4-polyisoprene), a renewable and mechanically compliant biopolymer, is an attractive alternative for sustainable electronics, yet its chemical inertness has limited its use in advanced functional materials. Here we report a photoredox-catalyzed strategy for the selective functionalization of cis -1,4-polyisoprene, enabling modular installation of functional groups without crosslinking or degradation. This approach yields functional polyisoprene with luminescent and flame-retardant properties and, through dynamic ionic crosslinking, produces elastomers with tensile strengths up to 20 MPa and stretch ratios of 22. We further prepare a recyclable composite using functional natural rubber and PEDOT:PSS, stabilized by ionic interactions rather than permanent vulcanized networks, that retains mechanical and electrical performance over multiple recycling cycles. Its application in robotic motion sensing and electronic skin exemplifies a fundamental design principle for sustainable flexible electronics.
Source: ChemRxiv
Language: English
Subfield: Polymers and Plastics
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7213329542