Fabrication of multi-functional bio-based vitrimer and conductive composites via ugi four-component polymerization

To alleviate the pressure of fossil fuels on the environment, a green and efficient idea is proposed to prepare a new class of bio-based vitrimers by introducing dynamic disulfide bonds into the cross-linked network with bio-based raw materials 1,8-methane diamine and 10-undecenal through Ugi four-component reaction and highly efficient UV curing method. Among these bio-based vitrimers, B-MDU 16 displays excellent self-healing ability, reprocessability and shape memory ability. Furthermore, conductive vitrimer composites based on bio-based vitrimers were fabricated by doping 5 wt% of MWCNTs, which also exhibited good electrical conductivity, photo-thermal properties, reprocessability and degradability as well as promising applications in the field of skin sensing. This study proposes to use Ugi-4CR to prepare bio-based vitrimer and composites, revitalizing this “ancient” organic reaction in the smart composites field and sustainable development strategy. • This work is the first example of bio-based vitrimers and composites fabricated via multi-component reaction (Ugi-4CR). • This strategy fully combines the advantages of biomass compounds, multi-component reactions and vitrimer composites. • This is an environmentally friendly strategy to effectively solve the fossil fuel crisis and white pollution. • The B-MDU-CNT 5 were validated for applications in NIR photo-thermal and strain sensing, showing the promising application.