The discovery of inverse vulcanization has allowed polymers to be made using elemental sulfur as the major component. However, until now, there has been little discussion of why seemingly similar crosslinkers result in polymers with radically different properties. Combining synthesis, spectroscopy, and modeling, this study reveals the structure-property relationships of sulfur polymers and reports a new system using 5-ethylidene-2-norbornene as a crosslinker that can stabilize up to 90 wt % of elemental sulfur.
Keywords: Fukui indices; crosslinker; inverse vulcanization; polymers; radical reactions; sulfur–5‐ethylidene‐2‐norbornene copolymer; sulfur.