Bottle-grade polyethylene furanoate from ring-opening polymerisation of cyclic oligomers.

ABSTRACT: Polyethylene furanoate (PEF) represents a promising renewable resource-based bioplastic as replacement for fossil-based polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with improved material properties. However, the synthesis of PEF through conventional polycondensation remains challenging, since the time-intensive reaction leads to degradation and undesired discolouration of the product. Here we show the successful rapid synthesis of bottle-grade PEF via ring-opening polymerisation (ROP) from cyclic PEF oligomers within minutes, thereby avoiding degradation and discolouration. The melting point of such mixture of cyclic oligomers lies around 370?°C, well above the degradation temperature of PEF (~329?°C). This challenge can be overcome, exploiting the self-plasticising effect of the forming polymer itself (which melts around 220?°C) by initiation in the presence of a high boiling, yet removable, and inert liquid plasticiser. This concept yields polymer grades required for bottle applications (Mn?>?30?kg?mol-1, conversion > 95%, colour-free products), and can be extended to other diffusion-limited polymer systems.

SUBMITTER: Rosenboom JG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6057881 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature