Effect of addition of comonomer FDCA on thermal, mechanical, and crystallization properties of bio-based semi-aromatic PA10T

Heat-resistant semi-aromatic poly (decamethylene terephthalamide) acid (PA10T) and a series of poly (decamethylene terephthalamide/decamethylene furanamide) (PA10T/10F) with a high content of bio-based carbon were synthesized by a cost-effective high-pressure solution polycondensation method. The chemical structures of the obtained samples were evaluated by Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Moreover, the effect of the addition of copolymer 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) and the copolymerization ratios of FDCA for PA10T on thermal performances, crystallization behaviors, and mechanical properties of PA10T and PA10T/10F were studied in detail. In addition, the results of DSC indicate that the melting points of PA10T/10F copolyamides can be adjusted appropriately by varying the feed ratios of FDCA, suggesting the improvement of processabilities. Besides, with increasing the copolymerization ratios of FDCA, the sizes of spherulites decreased gradually analyzed by POM. Furthermore, the results of XRD showed that the PA10T homopolymer and PA10T/10F copolyamides possess similar shapes around 2θ = 21°. In addition, compared with pure PA10T, the tensile strength, breaking elongation, bending strength, bending modulus, and izod impact strength all increased obviously when the feed ratio of FDCA and terephthalic acid (PTA) was 5:95. Therefore, the crystallization behaviors, processing performances, and mechanical characteristics of PA10T can be improved significantly by introducing FDCA, to improve the bio-based carbon content of PA10T and meet the increasing demand for environmentally friendly materials all over the world.