Novel Resveratrol-Derived Sulfur-Rich Polymers: Advanced Materials for Silver Capture and High-Performance Lithium–Sulfur Battery Cathodes

Abstract

Organic polysulfides have garnered significant attention recently as functional materials due to their abundant S–S bonds and strong chemical bonding structures, with potential applications in heavy metal adsorption, antimicrobials, and lithium–sulfur batteries. However, the environmental concerns associated with petroleum-based polymers and the flammability of sulfur pose challenges for their applications. This study describes the successful preparation of an inverse vulcanization sulfur-rich polymer using biobased resveratrol allyl ether as a copolymerization monomer. The polymer exhibits an ultrahigh glass transition temperature (T_g = 148 °C) and thermal stability, excellent flame retardancy, highly efficient silver absorption (removal rate >99.9%), outstanding silver-regenerative antimicrobial properties (complete inhibition of the growth and propagation of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli)), as well as excellent specific discharge capacity (1198 mAh g^–1), cycling performance, and rate capability. In situ battery infrared and DFT studies indicate that during the electrochemical redox process, the structure of the polymer undergoes a reorganization. The high active sulfur loading electrodes (∼5 mg cm^–2) are also prepared to exhibit a certain practical potential with good discharge capacity and capacity retention.