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Catalyst‐Free Ring Opening Synthesis of Biodegradable Poly(ester‐urethane)s Using Isosorbide Bio‐Based Initiator
Author(s) -
El Mahdi Ayoub,
M'sahel Malek,
Medimagh Raouf
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
macromolecular chemistry and physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.57
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1521-3935
pISSN - 1022-1352
DOI - 10.1002/macp.201700077
Subject(s) - isosorbide , polymer chemistry , ring opening polymerization , differential scanning calorimetry , polycaprolactone , polymerization , polyester , glass transition , polymer , materials science , elastomer , chemistry , bulk polymerization , radical polymerization , organic chemistry , physics , thermodynamics
Polycaprolactones are obtained via ring opening polymerization of ε‐caprolactone in catalyst‐free condition. The polymerization is initiated in bulk, using isosorbide‐based amino‐alcohol as a biosourced initiator. The ratio of initiator to ε‐caprolactone, as well as to temperature, is optimized in order to tune the hydroxyl number (Nr. OH) and the average molecular weight of the polymers. In addition, these biocompatible polyesters are used as soft‐block to prepare thermoplastic poly(esterurethane)s elastomers via a simple one‐pot catalyst‐free polymerization. The successful synthesis of poly(esterurethane)s is confirmed by Fourier transform‐infrared spectroscopy, and the thermal properties are studied by differential scanning calorimetry. These novel materials exhibit glass transition temperatures ranging from 7 to 38 °C. The biodegradability of these elastomers is evaluated by enzymatic degradation tests performed at rt in phosphate buffer solution (pH ≈ 7.4). The mass loss of polymer films is around 3% after 4 weeks. Scan electron as well as atomic force microscopies are used to show the degradation patterns.