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Preparation of Chain‐Extended Poly(hexamethylene carbonate)s and their Block Copolymerization with Poly‐ L ‐lactide to Synthesize Partly Biobased Thermoplastic Elastomers
Author(s) -
Kobayashi Koji,
Kanmuri Shuhei,
Hayashi Yuichiro,
Masutani Kazunari,
Kimura Yoshiharu
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
macromolecular materials and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.913
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1439-2054
pISSN - 1438-7492
DOI - 10.1002/mame.201400098
Subject(s) - copolymer , thermoplastic elastomer , lactide , materials science , polymer chemistry , condensation polymer , ethylene carbonate , trimethylene carbonate , elastomer , oligomer , carbonate , polymerization , polymer , chemistry , composite material , electrode , electrolyte , metallurgy
Abstract An oligomer of poly(hexamethylene carbonate) (PHMC) that is synthesized by ester‐exchanging polycondensation of ethylene carbonate and 1,6‐hexanediol is chain‐extended by using diphenyl carbonate as chain extender. The resultant PHMC, dihydroxyl‐terminated, is then subjected to tin‐catalyzed ring‐opening polymerization of L ‐lactide to prepare ABA tri‐block copolymers consisting of poly‐ L ‐lactide (PLLA: A) and PHMC (B), which retain significantly high molecular weights even at increased contents of PHMC. Polymer films of these block copolymers exhibit high elongation, reaching 700% at a high PHMC content. It is therefore suggested that the present block copolymer system can be a novel thermoplastic elastomer, which is partly bio‐based.