Synthesis and Characterization of Thermoresponsive Xylan Networks by Diels-Alder Reaction

The last several decades have witnessed notable research in natural and biodegradable polymers for applications that interact with humans or the environment. This research describes the synthesis and characterization of temperature sensitive hemicellulose-based gels. Xylan type hemicellulose was converted into a thermoplastic material via the grafting of short polycaprolactone tails to enhance the material processability. The thermoplastic xylan (xylan-grafted-poly(caprolactone) was functionalized with different amounts of furan rings and allowed to react with bismaleimide through Diels-Alder reaction. The temperature dependent bonding/debonding of the designed networks was evaluated by solubility and rheological assessments. The results indicated that the temperature at which the networks disassemble varies based on the amount of the furan moieties in the initial copolymer and can range between 108.6 and 127.6 degrees C. The designed networks display promising molecular and synthetic features for the production of high-performance temperature-responsive polymers from renewable resources.