Synthesis and Structure-Property Relationship of Biobased Biodegradable Poly(butylene carbonate-co-furandicarboxylate)

A series of biobased poly(butylene carbonate-co-furandicarboxylate) (PBCF), are synthesized through a two-step polycondensation reaction. Chemical structures, thermal properties, crystallization behaviors, mechanical properties, barrier properties, and enzymatic degradation of PBCFs are investigated. The linear variation of the glass transition temperatures with the content ratio confirms the good miscibility between butylene carbonate (BC) and butylene furandicarboxylate (BF) units. BF segments could crystallize in most contents under different temperatures. Consequently, mechanical properties of these copolymers depend not only on the composition but also on the annealing conditions. Longtime annealing at room temperature or short-time annealing under high temperature could tremendously increase the tensile modulus. For room-temperature annealing, the formation of less perfect crystals of the poly(butylene furandicarboxylate) (PBF) could interpret the enhancement of modulus. On the other hand, the high-temperature annealing induces more perfect PBF crystals and improves the modulus significantly too. The tensile toughness of the PBCFs is good with the lowest elongation at break of 260%, and the degradation could be observed in samples with less than 60 mol % BF units. With good gas barrier properties, fast biodegradability, and high mechanical performance, these copolyesters possess potential applications in the plastic industry.