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Updated: Jun 10, 2025

Designed for Molecular Recycling: A Lignin-Derived Semi-aromatic Biobased Polymer
Published on: November 30, 2020
How the Aliphatic Glycol Chain Length Determines the Pseudoeutectic Composition in Biodegradable Isodimorphic
Maryam Safari1,2, Juan Torres2, Ricardo A Pérez-Camargo2
1Maastricht University-Aachen Maastricht Institute for Biobased Materials (AMIBM), Urmonderbaan 22, Geleen 6167 RD, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
We synthesize four series of novel biodegradable poly(alkylene succinate-ran-caprolactone) random copolyesters using a two-step ring-opening/transesterification and polycondensation process with ε-caprolactone (PCL) as a common comonomer. The second comonomers are succinic acid derivatives, with variations in the number of methylene groups (nCH2) in the glycol segment, nCH2 = 2, 4, 8, and 12. The obtained copolyesters were poly(ethylene succinate-ran-PCL) (ESxCLy), poly(butylene succinate-ran-PCL) (BSxCLy), poly(octamethylene succinate-ran-PCL) (OSxCLy), and poly(dodecylene succinate-ran-PCL) (DSxCLy). We discovered a new mixed isodimorphic/comonomer exclusion crystallization in ESxCLy copolymers. The BSxCLy, OSxCLy, and DSxCLy copolymers display isodimorphic behavior. Our findings revealed a significant variation in the pseudoeutectic point position, from mixed isodimorphism/comonomer exclusion crystallization to isodimorphism with pseudoeutectic point variation from 54% to up to 90%. Moreover, we established a link between the melting temperature depression slope variation and the comonomer inclusion/exclusion balance, providing valuable insights into the complex topic of isodimorphic random copolymers.
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