| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
MS&T23: Materials Science & Technology
|
| Symposium
|
Next Generation Biomaterials
|
| Presentation Title |
Synthesis and Characterization of Biodegradable Polydisulfide From Renewable Resources |
| Author(s) |
Peter Polyak, Aswathy Sasidharan Pillai, Kristof Molnar, Judit Puskas |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Peter Polyak |
| Abstract Scope |
This lecture will discuss the synthesis of a new, plant oil-based biodegradable biopolymer by Reversible Recombination Radical Polymerization (R3P). A sustainable polymer industry needs raw materials that are independent of fossil resources, synthetic routes that rely on catalysts of organic origins, and circular lifecycles facilitated by polymers that can be completely decomposed. Our synthesis started with di-linoleic diol, which is supplied by Cargill Inc. The diol was converted to dithiol by transesterification of methyl-3-mercaptopropionate catalyzed by Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB). The resulting dithiol was analyzed by 1H and 13C NMR. R3P using environment-friendly agents such as hydrogen peroxide and atmospheric oxygen yielded disulfide polymers. The polymers were analyzed by both NMR and Size Exclusion Chromatography (SEC). SEC measurements showed that the average molecular weights of the polydisulfides correlated positively with the concentration of hydrogen peroxide. R3P catalyzed by 30 wt% hydrogen peroxide yielded macromolecules with Mn = 66,000 g/mol. |