Preparation of biobased poly(propylene 2,5‐furandicarboxylate) fibers: Mechanical, thermal and hydrolytic degradation properties

Abstract In this work, a fully biobased poly(propylene 2,5‐furandicarboxylate) (PPF) was synthesized from 2,5‐furan dicarboxylic acid (FDCA) and 1,3‐propanediol (1,3‐PDO) via traditional two‐step melting polycondensation. Then, the resultant PPF was characterized with 1 H NMR, FTIR, GPC, intrinsic viscosity, TGA, and DSC measurements, respectively. Next, the prepared PPF was melt‐spun into fibers. The morphology and thermal stability of the as‐spun PPF fibers were firstly investigated by SEM and TGA. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of the PPF fibers were evaluated. The results showed that the tensile of the PPF fibers increased with increasing of the draw ratios following gradual decrease of the breaking elongation from 307.1% to 48.9%. In addition, the crystallization ability and the hydrolytic degradation behavior of the as‐spun PPF fibers were investigated in detail as well. The results presented that comparing to traditional fossil‐based poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) fibers, the PPF fibers exhibited lower crystallinity, however, it displayed a better hydrolytic degradation performance. Based on these results, it confirmed that the PPF fiber based on biomass polymer is a kind of promising environmentally friendly synthetic fiber for potential application in various fields.