Co-Polymers based on Poly(1,4-butylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) and Poly(propylene oxide) with Tuneable Thermal Properties: Synthesis and Characterization

Marina Matos; Andreia F Sousa; Patrícia V Mendonça; Armando J D Silvestre

doi:10.3390/ma12020328

Co-Polymers based on Poly(1,4-butylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) and Poly(propylene oxide) with Tuneable Thermal Properties: Synthesis and Characterization

Materials (Basel). 2019 Jan 21;12(2):328. doi: 10.3390/ma12020328.

Authors

Marina Matos¹, Andreia F Sousa², Patrícia V Mendonça³, Armando J D Silvestre⁴

Affiliations

¹ CICECO and Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal. marina.matos@ua.pt.
² CICECO and Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal. andreiafs@ua.pt.
³ CEMMPRE, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Rua Sílvio Lima, Pólo II, 3030-790 Coimbra, Portugal. patmend@gmail.com.
⁴ CICECO and Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal. armsil@ua.pt.

Abstract

Poly(ether ester)s (PEEs) represent a promising class of segmented co-polymers, nevertheless the synthesis of PEEs based on renewable 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is still scarce. In this context, a series of poly(1,4-butylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate)-co-poly(poly(propylene oxide) 2,5-furandicarboxylate) co-polyesters with different composition of stiff poly(1,4-butylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PBF) and soft poly(poly(propylene oxide) 2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PPOF) moieties were synthesized, via a two-step bulk polytransesterification reaction. The molar ratio of PBF/PPOF incorporated was varied (10 to 50 mol%) in order to prepare several novel materials with tuned properties. The materials were characterised in detail through several techniques, namely ATR FTIR, ¹H and ¹³C NMR, TGA, DSC, DMTA and XRD. Their hydrolytic and enzymatic degradation evaluation was also assessed. These new co-polymers showed either a semi-crystalline nature when higher PBF/PPOF ratios were used, and for approximately equal amounts of PBF and PPOF an amorphous co-polyester was obtained instead.

Keywords: 2,5-Furandicarboxylic acid; poly(ester-ether) co-polymers; poly(propylene oxide); tuneable thermal properties.