Exploiting Sodium Coordination in Alternating Monomer Sequences to Toughen Degradable Block Polyester Thermoplastic Elastomers.

ABSTRACT: Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) that are closed-loop recyclable are needed in a circular material economy, but many current materials degrade during recycling, and almost all are pervasive hydrocarbons. Here, well-controlled block polyester TPEs featuring regularly placed sodium/lithium carboxylate side chains are described. They show significantly higher tensile strengths than unfunctionalized analogues, with high elasticity and elastic recovery. The materials are prepared using controlled polymerizations, exploiting a single catalyst that switches between different polymerization cycles. ABA block polyesters of high molar mass (60-100 kg mol^-1; 21 wt % A-block) are constructed using the ring-opening polymerization of ε-decalactone (derived from castor oil; B-block), followed b

SUBMITTER: Gregory GL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9084597 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature