Branched Polymers: Synthesis and Application

Branched polymers have aroused great interest due to their less chain entanglement, high concentration of chain terminals, good solubility, and low viscosity in melts and solutions. In this Perspective, we highlight various synthesis strategies for branched polymers with different structures and discuss their applications in the field of solid polymer electrolytes for lithium batteries, coatings and membranes, surfactants, hydrogels, and so on. Here, we expect to arouse more synthesis approaches such as enzyme-catalyzed living radical polymerization and photoinitiated living radical polymerization and also to copolymerize monomers with different properties or to modify branched polymers in order to obtain functionalized branched polymers that can be produced under mild conditions.