Development of Biodegradable Poly(ester-carbonate)s with Tailored Rigid-Flexible Structures for High-Performance...

Area of Science:

• Polymer Science
• Materials Science
• Sustainable Chemistry

Background:

• Growing environmental concerns necessitate alternatives to nondegradable plastics.
• Biodegradable copolyesters are crucial for developing sustainable packaging solutions.
• Existing copolyesters often face a trade-off between mechanical performance and biodegradability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize a novel series of rigid-flexible poly(ester-carbonate)s (PBCCTs).
• To enhance chain entanglement and overcome the mechanical-biodegradability trade-off in conventional copolyesters.
• To evaluate the optical, mechanical, degradation, and biocompatibility properties of the novel PBCCTs.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of rigid-flexible poly(ester-carbonate)s (PBCCTs) incorporating 1,4-butanediol (BDO) and trimethyl citrate (TMC).
• Incorporation of flexible BDO units, rigid cyclohexyl rings, and in situ branched architecture.
• Evaluation of tensile strength, elongation at break, tear strength, degradation rate, hemolysis, and cytotoxicity.

Main Results:

• PBCCTs exhibited tunable high-performance properties: tensile strengths of 20.1-35.3 MPa, elongation at break of 206.0-500.0%, and tear strength up to 104 N mm^-1.
• The copolyesters demonstrated markedly enhanced degradability, with PBCCT₇₀ showing a 64.49 wt % mass loss.
• Hemolysis and cytotoxicity assays confirmed excellent biocompatibility of the synthesized PBCCTs.

Conclusions:

• The novel rigid-flexible PBCCTs successfully overcome the mechanical-biodegradability trade-off.
• These materials offer tunable, high-performance characteristics suitable for demanding applications.
• PBCCTs are promising candidates for robust and sustainable packaging due to their superior properties and biocompatibility.