Synthesis and properties of novel poly(ethylene succinate-co-decamethylene succinate) copolymers

Abstract

In this work, a series of novel poly(ethylene succinate-co-decamethylene succinate) (PEDS) copolymers with different decamethylene succinate (DS) contents and their homopolymer poly(ethylene succinate) (PES) were synthesized by a two-stage melt polycondensation method. The thermal stability, crystal structure, crystallization behavior, mechanical properties, and hydrolytic degradation of PEDS were investigated with various techniques and compared with those of PES. The PEDS copolyesters have the similar thermal stability and crystal structure as PES, but the crystallinity values of PEDS are smaller than that of PES. The values of the glass transition temperature, melting temperature, and melt crystallization peak temperature of PEDS decrease apparently, relative to PES. The elongation at break values of PEDS were improved significantly with the presence of the DS units, while the yield strength and Young's modulus values become smaller compared with those of PES. The hydrolytic degradation rates of PEDS are slower than that of PES, regardless of the DS contents. When the DS content increases to 18 mol%, the sample has a faster hydrolytic degradation rate than other copolyesters.