Effects of Poly(cyclohexanedimethylene terephthalate) on Microstructures, Crystallization Behavior and Properties of the Poly(ester ether) Elastomers

Yi-Cheng Feng; Hui Zhao; Tong-Hui Hao; Guo-Hua Hu; Tao Jiang; Qun-Chao Zhang

doi:10.3390/ma10070694

Effects of Poly(cyclohexanedimethylene terephthalate) on Microstructures, Crystallization Behavior and Properties of the Poly(ester ether) Elastomers

Materials (Basel). 2017 Jun 24;10(7):694. doi: 10.3390/ma10070694.

Authors

Yi-Cheng Feng¹, Hui Zhao², Tong-Hui Hao³, Guo-Hua Hu⁴, Tao Jiang⁵, Qun-Chao Zhang⁶

Affiliations

¹ Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Green Preparation and Application for Functional Materials, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, China. fengyicheng0221@icloud.com.
² Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Green Preparation and Application for Functional Materials, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, China. zhh0625@foxmail.com.
³ Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Green Preparation and Application for Functional Materials, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, China. haoth@hubu.edu.cn.
⁴ Laboratory of Reactions and Process Engineering, CNRS-University of Lorraine, 1 rue Grandville, BP 20451, 54001 Nancy Cedex, France. guo-hua.hu@univ-lorraine.fr.
⁵ Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Green Preparation and Application for Functional Materials, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, China. jiangtao@hubu.edu.cn.
⁶ Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Green Preparation and Application for Functional Materials, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, China. zhangqc1976@hubu.edu.cn.

Abstract

To understand the role of molecular structure on the crystallization behavior of copolyester in thermoplastic poly(ether ester) elastomers (TPEEs), series of poly(butylene-co-1,4-cyclohexanedimethylene terephthalate) (P(BT-co-CT))-b-poly(tetramethylene glycol) (PTMG) are synthesized through molten polycondensation process. The effects of poly(cyclohexanedimethylene terephthalate) (PCT) content on the copolymer are investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), ¹H and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), gel permeation chromatographs (GPC), wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), mechanical, and visible light transmittance tests. FT-IR and NMR results confirm the incorporation of PCT onto the copolymer. WAXD and DSC indicate that the crystalline structure of the copolymers changed from α-PBT lattice to trans-PCT lattice when the molar fraction of PCT (M_PCT) is above 30%, while both crystallization and melting temperatures reach the minima. An increase in M_PCT led to an increase in the number sequence length of PCT, the thermal stability and the visible light transmittance of the copolymer, but to a slight decrease in tensile strength and elastic modulus.

Keywords: copolymerization; crystallization behavior; microstructures; poly(ester ether).