Polymer annealing based on photothermal conversion

Yapei Wang

Department of Chemistry, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 100872, China

Annealing treatments are common ways to refine the nano- or micro-structures of polymeric materials, causing changes in physical properties and phase separation. General annealing including thermal annealing and solvent annealing are incapable of partial or selective annealing. Inevitable destruction to the fragile substrates and poor control of annealing area become pertinent and pervasive problems. We put efforts to polymer annealing by the use of near-infrared light (NIR) with low irradiation dose. Mild NIR light can illuminate a desired position and cause low side effect to supporting materials, providing a great convenience to locally and selectively anneal the polymers in special environments.