Polyolefins (including polyethylene and polypropylene) are among the most important plastics used in industry – they are chemically resistant, easy to process, and produced on a massive scale. However, their practical limitation is their chemical inertness (lack of reactive functional groups), which affects their relatively high hydrophobicity, reduces adhesion, compatibility with polar composite components, and hinders effective surface modification.

In the article “A versatile one-pot strategy for the synthesis of organosilicon-functionalized polyolefins” published in the Journal of Catalysis (vol. 454, 2026, 116588. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcat.2025.116588), authors Rafał Januszewski, Bartosz Orwat, Ireneusz Kownacki (UAM) and Michał Dutkiewicz (PPNT) present an approach that simplifies and expands the possibilities for the synthesis and application of functionalized polyolefins. The key element of the work is the one-pot strategy used, combining the subsequent processes of hydrosilylation and hydrogenation of polybutadiene with the elimination of the intermediate product isolation stage.

Compared to classic methods (copolymerization with functional monomers or post-polymerization modifications), the described protocol stands out in three areas that are particularly important for R&D and implementation:

• Tolerance to various functional groups – the method allows for the introduction of a wide range of organic functional groups, whose grafting onto polyolefin chains is often problematic using standard synthetic routes.
• Control of the degree of functionalization – the degree of functionalization of the polymer chain can be precisely adjusted by changing the stoichiometric ratio of organosilicon derivatives to vinyl groups present in polybutadiene.
• Designing materials with tailor-made properties – this work presents a strategy for building a library of new, functionalized, organosilicon polyolefin derivatives, paving the way for applications in materials engineering and surface engineering.

Pełny opis metody, zakres badanych funkcjonalizacji i wnioski znajdują się w publikacji: A versatile one-pot strategy for the synthesis of organosilicon-functionalized polyolefins – ScienceDirect