From everyday clothing and electronic devices we use, to vaccines in the medical field and building materials that transform cityscapes, polymers have permeated every corner of modern life like air itself. However, the vast majority of traditional polymers have random structures, single functionalities, and are difficult to recycle and reuse, leading not only to enormous resource waste but also to severe environmental challenges. How to precisely construct polymers with clear structures and controllable functions at the molecular level, like assembling Lego bricks, is a dream pursued relentlessly by chemists worldwide.
On October 16, Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, Wolf Prize in Chemistry laureate, and J.C. Warner Professor of Natural Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University, was invited to the “ShanghaiTech Lecture” to share his view on the topic of “taming free radicals to build precise polymers.”
As the pioneer of atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) technology, Matyjaszewski enjoys immense prestige in the international polymer community. The copper-catalyzed ATRP method he proposed in 1994 achieved precise control over radical polymerization reactions under mild conditions, ushering in a paradigm shift in the field of polymer synthesis. This technology not only achieved large-scale commercial application in the United States, Japan, and Europe in 2004, but also spawned various green control strategies, including photoinduced ATRP and mechanochemical ATRP, which are widely used in high-end fields such as coatings, biomedical materials, electronic packaging, and self-healing elastomers.
Matyjaszewski began with the diversity of polymer materials and the global plastic pollution crisis, systematically introducing the basic principles and development trajectory of ATRP technology. He likened ATRP to the process of “taming free radicals”—through meticulously designed catalysts and reaction conditions, it enables precise control over polymer chain length, topology, and sequence composition, thereby producing functional polymers with complex architectures such as star-shaped, brush-like, and cyclic structures. He further emphasized that by regulating the “lock-and-key” mechanism at the molecular level, novel smart materials with self-healing, stimulus-responsive, and even recyclable depolymerization into monomers can be developed, providing key technical pathways for achieving “closed-loop recycling” and green manufacturing of polymer materials.
After the talk, students and faculty eagerly raised questions on topics such as integrating ATRP with artificial intelligence to accelerate new material development, applications of polymers in energy storage, and tradeoff between science and industrial prospects. At the conclusion of the event, President Feng Donglai presented Matyjaszewski with a “ShanghaiTech Lecture” certificate on behalf of the university and expressed sincere gratitude for his wonderful presentation.
As the university’s top academic lecture series, the “ShanghaiTech Lecture” is a platform for exchanges between the top scholars globally and to foster collisions of cutting-edge ideas.