Vitrimer-like of poly (glycerol sebacate) by using zinc acetate, zinc oxide and Amberlyst as catalysts

Abstract

Polyglycerol sebacate (PGS) is elastomeric biodegradable polymer with potential biomedical and green packaging applications. This study focuses on the synthesis of vitrimer-like PGS utilizing various catalysts, including Zinc acetate, Zinc oxide and Amberlyst-15. The investigation of vitrimer-like of PGS polymer by polycondensation of glycerol and sebacic acid with various molar ratio of 1:1, 1:1.25 and 1:1.5 will be studied. The synthetic time and temperature were controlled at 72 h, 120 ^°C, respectively. The prepolymer of PGS had a weight-average molecular weight (Mw.) of 1743. The result of functional group was confirmed by Fourier transforms Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The intense CO stretch at 1737 cm⁻¹ confirms the formation of ester bonds. The intense OH stretch at 3454 cm⁻¹ indicated hydroxyl groups from hydrogen bonded. When the quantity of catalyst is increased, the results of hardness are rising but swelling (%) becomes lower. The results showed a polymer network has higher cross-link when the catalyst increases. In addition, the proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H NMR) analysis found that PGS using catalyst does not have peaks of glycerol.