Preparation of Polymer Microparticles Through Non-aqueous Suspension Polycondensations: Part IV-Effect of the Continuous Phase on the Characteristics of Final Poly(Butylene Succinate) Particles

Suspension polycondensations used to manufacture poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) can be regarded as a type of inverse heterogeneous polymerization technique, as the monomer phase is formed by polar reacting compounds (1,4-butanediol and succinic acid) that are partially soluble in water and require the use of a nonpolar continuous phase in order to form stable suspended droplets. In this context, the main objective of the present study was to investigate the influence of the continuous phase on the kinetic behavior of suspension PBS reactions and the morphological aspects of PBS particles produced through suspension polycondensations. Particularly, renewable soybean oil was used here for the first time as the continuous phase for preparation of PBS microparticles and results were compared to data obtained when paraffin was used as the continuous phase. It is shown that soybean oil can be used successfully as the continuous phase of polycondensations, allowing for production of microparticles with regular spherical morphology and leading to sustainablegreenerprocesses, as the constituents of both the continuous and discontinuous phases can be obtained from renewable materials.

Automated summary

The study investigates the influence of the continuous phase on the kinetic behavior of suspension PBS reactions and the morphological aspects of PBS particles produced. Results show that soybean oil can be successfully used as the continuous phase for polycondensations, allowing for production of microparticles with regular spherical morphology.