Poly(1,4-butylene -co-1,4-cyclohexanedimethylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) copolyester: Potential bio-based engineering plastic

Abstract Poly(1,4-butylene-co-1,4-cyclohexanedimethylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PBCFs) was synthesized from bio-based 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), 1,4-butanediol (BDO) and 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol (CHDM). The GPC showed that the number average molecular weight (Mn) of PBCFs were in the range of 38400–44200 g/mol and the average molecular weight (Mw) varied from 83,000 to 94,800 g/mol with the polydispersity index of 2.22–2.33. The chemical structures, compositions and sequence distributions of PBCFs were confirmed by 1H NMR and 13C NMR. Their thermal properties and crystallization behavior were investigated by Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC). Results showed that the glass transition temperature (Tg) and melting temperature (Tm) of poly(butylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PBF) were increased from 38 and 171.8 °C to 65.8 and 211.7 °C for PBCF-68, respectively. Furthermore, the strength and modulus were increased from 44 and 950 MPa for PBF to 69 and 1360 MPa for PBCF-68 with the mole percentage of CHDM units of 68% in diol units. PBCFs demonstrated much better thermo-mechanical properties when compared with those of PBF, which might be used as the bio-based engineering plastic or excellent packaging materials with high transparency and good gas barrier properties.