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Title: Strong, Resilient, and Sustainable Aliphatic Polyester Thermoplastic Elastomers

Abstract

Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) composed of ABA block polymers exhibit a wide variety of properties and are easily processable as they contain physical, rather than chemical, cross-links. Poly(γ-methyl-ε-caprolactone) (PγMCL) is an amorphous polymer with a low entanglement molar mass (Me = 2.9 kg mol–1), making it a suitable choice for tough elastomers. Incorporating PγMCL as the midblock with polylactide (PLA) end blocks (fLA = 0.17) results in TPEs with high stresses and elongations at break (σB = 24 ± 2 MPa and εB = 1029 ± 20%, respectively) and low levels of hysteresis. The use of isotactic PLA as the end blocks (fLLA = 0.17) increases the strength and toughness of the material (σB = 30 ± 4 MPa, εB = 988 ± 30%) due to its semicrystalline nature. This study aims to demonstrate how the outstanding properties in these sustainable materials are a result of the entanglements, glass transition temperature, segment–segment interaction parameter, and crystallinity, resulting in comparable properties to the commercially relevant styrene-based TPEs.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)
  2. Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States); Keio Univ., Yokohama (Japan)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Science Foundation (NSF)
OSTI Identifier:
1373778
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-06CH11357; 0960140
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Biomacromolecules
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 18; Journal Issue: 6; Journal ID: ISSN 1525-7797
Publisher:
American Chemical Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
ENGLISH
Subject:
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; deformation; plastics; biopolymers; organic polymers; polymers

Citation Formats

Watts, Annabelle, Kurokawa, Naruki, and Hillmyer, Marc A. Strong, Resilient, and Sustainable Aliphatic Polyester Thermoplastic Elastomers. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1021/acs.biomac.7b00283.
Watts, Annabelle, Kurokawa, Naruki, & Hillmyer, Marc A. Strong, Resilient, and Sustainable Aliphatic Polyester Thermoplastic Elastomers. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biomac.7b00283
Watts, Annabelle, Kurokawa, Naruki, and Hillmyer, Marc A. Wed . "Strong, Resilient, and Sustainable Aliphatic Polyester Thermoplastic Elastomers". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biomac.7b00283. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1373778.
@article{osti_1373778,
title = {Strong, Resilient, and Sustainable Aliphatic Polyester Thermoplastic Elastomers},
author = {Watts, Annabelle and Kurokawa, Naruki and Hillmyer, Marc A.},
abstractNote = {Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) composed of ABA block polymers exhibit a wide variety of properties and are easily processable as they contain physical, rather than chemical, cross-links. Poly(γ-methyl-ε-caprolactone) (PγMCL) is an amorphous polymer with a low entanglement molar mass (Me = 2.9 kg mol–1), making it a suitable choice for tough elastomers. Incorporating PγMCL as the midblock with polylactide (PLA) end blocks (fLA = 0.17) results in TPEs with high stresses and elongations at break (σB = 24 ± 2 MPa and εB = 1029 ± 20%, respectively) and low levels of hysteresis. The use of isotactic PLA as the end blocks (fLLA = 0.17) increases the strength and toughness of the material (σB = 30 ± 4 MPa, εB = 988 ± 30%) due to its semicrystalline nature. This study aims to demonstrate how the outstanding properties in these sustainable materials are a result of the entanglements, glass transition temperature, segment–segment interaction parameter, and crystallinity, resulting in comparable properties to the commercially relevant styrene-based TPEs.},
doi = {10.1021/acs.biomac.7b00283},
journal = {Biomacromolecules},
number = 6,
volume = 18,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed May 03 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Wed May 03 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}

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Cited by: 108 works
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