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Types of Step-Growth Polymers: Polyesters01:20

Types of Step-Growth Polymers: Polyesters

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The introduction of polyesters has brought major development to the textile industry. The wrinkle-free behavior of polyester blends has eliminated the need for starching and ironing clothes.
Polyesters are commonly prepared from terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol; the crude product is known as poly(ethylene terephthalate) or PET. However, polyesters are synthesized industrially by transesterification of dimethyl terephthalate with ethylene glycol at 150 °C. The two reactants and the polymer...
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Polymers are classified as linear or branched on the basis of their chain architecture. The polymer chains in linear polymers have a long chain-like structure with minimal to no branching at all. Even if a polymer features large substituent groups on the monomer, which appear as branches to the skeleton, it is not considered a branched polymer. A branched polymer contains secondary polymer chains that arise from the main polymer chain. The branching occurs when the polymer growth shifts from...
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Step-growth or condensation polymerization is a stepwise reaction of bi or multifunctional monomers to form long-chain polymers. As all the monomers are reactive, most of the monomers are consumed at the early stages of the reaction to form small chains of reactive oligomers, which then combine to form long polymer chains in the late stages. Hence, the reaction has to proceed for a long time to achieve high molecular weight polymers.
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The skeletal structure of polymers synthesized via radical polymerization is always branched. For example, the polymerization of ethylene by radical polymerization results in a low-density grade of polyethylene with a heavily branched skeletal structure. Here, the radical site abstracts hydrogen from the growing chain, and the radical site shifts from the end (a primary carbon center) to anywhere within the growing chain (a secondary carbon center). Consequently, the part of the chain from the...
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The conversion of alkenes to macromolecules called polymers is a reaction of high commercial importance. The structure of the polymer is defined by a repeating unit, while the terminal groups are considered insignificant. The average degree of polymerization represents the number of repeating units in the polymer molecule and is denoted by the subscript n.
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Polymers that are made up of identical monomer units are called homopolymers. Only one repeating unit is involved in the construction of the homopolymer structure. For example, as depicted in Figure 1, polypropylene is a homopolymer constituted of propylene monomers. Here, the only repeating unit in the polymer chain is propylene.
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Biodegradable Polyurethanes Based on Castor Oil and Poly (3-hydroxybutyrate).

Pathikrit Saha1, Chanin Khomlaem1, Hajer Aloui1

  • 1Department of Chemical Engineering, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Chungbuk 28644, Korea.

Polymers
|April 30, 2021
PubMed
Summary

Biodegradable polyurethanes (PUs) were enhanced using castor oil (CO) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) diol (PHBD). Incorporating PHBD significantly boosted tensile strength and improved compatibility, offering tailored degradation rates.

Keywords:
biodegradationcastor oilpoly (3-hydroxybutyrate)polyurethane

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Area of Science:

  • Polymer Science
  • Materials Science
  • Biomaterials Engineering

Background:

  • Biodegradable polyurethanes (PUs) are crucial for sustainable materials.
  • Castor oil (CO) is a renewable resource for PU synthesis.
  • Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) diol (PHBD) offers tunable properties for enhanced biodegradability.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To synthesize and characterize novel biodegradable polyurethanes (PUs) from castor oil (CO) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) diol (PHBD).
  • To investigate the impact of PHBD molecular weight and content on PU mechanical, thermal, and degradation properties.
  • To explore the compatibility between CO and PHBD in the resulting PU matrix.

Main Methods:

  • Synthesis of PHBDs with varying molecular weights via transesterification.
  • Preparation of CO/PHBD-based PUs using hexamethylene diisocyanate.
  • Characterization using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, mechanical testing, thermal analysis, and scanning electron microscopy.

Main Results:

  • Increasing PHBD content enhanced tensile strength by up to 300% compared to neat CO-based PUs.
  • PUs derived from short-chain PHBD exhibited higher tensile strength due to improved CO/PHBD compatibility.
  • Higher PHBD content increased PU crystallinity, while longer PHBD chains led to faster degradation rates.

Conclusions:

  • CO/PHBD-based PUs demonstrate significantly improved mechanical properties and tunable degradation.
  • The compatibility between CO and PHBD is key to enhancing material stiffness.
  • These findings highlight the potential of CO/PHBD blends for developing advanced biodegradable materials.