Partially Biobased Polyurethanes With Reversibly Crosslinkable Furan Units Toward Recyclable Thermosetting Textile...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Polymer Chemistry
• Sustainable Textiles

Background:

• Developing sustainable textiles requires integrating biobased feedstocks, fiber processability, and reversible crosslinking.
• Current textile materials often lack recyclability and rely on non-renewable resources.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report a novel molecular design and synthetic strategy for partially biobased polyurethanes.
• To develop reversibly crosslinked textile fibers with enhanced recyclability and tuneable properties.

Main Methods:

• Synthesized a lignin-derived aromatic monomer as a rigid building block.
• Copolymerized the monomer with tetraethylene glycol and diisocyanates, incorporating a sugar-based component for Diels-Alder crosslinking.
• Processed polymers into fibers via wet spinning and evaluated their properties.

Main Results:

• Achieved polyurethanes with tuneable molecular weights (10-280 kDa) and glass transition temperatures (31-124°C).
• Demonstrated efficient and repeatable (≥5 cycles) thermally induced reversible crosslinking/decrosslinking without significant property loss.
• Successfully processed polymers into fibers, showing dependence of spinnability and mechanical properties on molecular composition and processing conditions.

Conclusions:

• The molecular design strategy successfully introduced thermally reversible crosslinks into partially biobased polyurethanes.
• These materials show significant potential for developing sustainable and recyclable textile fibers.