Biobased Poly(Butylene Furanoate) Modified by Some Aliphatic Diacids toward Poly(Butylene Alkylene-co-furanoate) (PBXF) Series with Tunable Physical Properties and Biodegradability

Abstract

A series of biodegradable poly(butylene alkylene-co-furanoate) (PBXF) copolymers were synthesized by incorporating the third monomer with varying numbers of methylene (0, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16) into the poly(butylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PBF) backbone. Systematically, the effect of varying the alkylene length in butylene alkylene (BX) units on the properties of PBXFs was investigated. Results reveal that slight variations in the alkylene length will result in dramatic differences in material properties. The crystallizability of PBXFs significantly improved when the number of methylenes exceeded 8. The mechanical properties illustrated that PBXFs exhibited outstanding ductility, with elongation at a break exceeding 880%. Additionally, PBXFs retained excellent barrier properties compared to most commercial materials, and the underlying barrier mechanisms were further explored through simulations. More importantly, the degradation properties of PBXFs indicated that the optimum degradation properties occurred in the lipase solution medium, and remarkable biodegradation was observed with sufficiently elongated alkylene length. These observations profoundly explain the effect of varying alkylene length of BX units in PBXF macromolecules concerning structural properties, guiding the development of high-performance biobased degradable polyester materials.