Synthesis and Characterization of Poly (Erythritol Sebacate)

Erythritol is a sweetener polyol widely distributed in nature. Its industrial production is based on biotechnological fermentative processes using yeasts. It is used essentially in nutrition and pharmaceutical fields. However, due to its still high price, the use of erythritol is not widespread and is lower than that of other polyols. The use of erythritol for polymer synthesis remains largely unexplored by the scientific community. This work describes the synthesis and characterization of polyester, poly (erythritol sebacate) (PES), obtained by thermal polycondensation of erythritol and sebacic acid in a two steps approach. A prepolymerization step was realized at different temperatures (150 °C, 160 °C and 170 °C, respectively) followed by a cure step at 150 °C. It was found that using a higher temperature allows the same degree of polymerization (50%) to be achieved in a shorter period, but this leads to prepolymers with a more heterogeneous oligomeric composition. This is reflected in the final properties of the polymers after curing. Synthesis at 150 °C produced a polymer with superior mechanical performance (ultimate tensile strength: 0.5 MPa; Young’s modulus: 0.44 MPa: elongation at break: 123%) and higher chemical resistance to solvents than polymers synthesized at 160 °C and 170 °C. The glass transition temperature (T_g) is between − 20 and 0 °C for all polymers and density is 1.08 g/cm³. Based on these results, we believe that PES is a good elastomer with tunable properties and potential for selective absorption of molecules, such as ethanol, that could be useful for beverage industry and biotechnological applications.

Graphical Abstract