Fully biobased thermoplastic elastomers: synthesis and characterization of poly(l-lactide)-b-polymyrcene-b-poly(l-lactide) triblock copolymers

Abstract

Fully biobased poly(L-lactide)-b-polymyrcene-b-poly(L-lactide) triblock copolymers with PLLA as the hard block and polymyrcene as the soft block were synthesized by the ring opening polymerization of L-lactide in the presence of the dihydroxyl-terminated polymyrcene precursor and organocatalyst. The copolymer composition and molecular weight of these triblock copolymers were confirmed by NMR and GPC results. Two separated glass transition temperatures were detected by both DMA and DSC techniques, indicating an existence of micro-phase separation in these triblock copolymers, which is a typical characteristic of thermoplastic elastomers with the content of soft block increases. Tensile testing revealed that PLLA-b-PM-b-PLLA (200) having 20 wt% polymyrcene show distinct yielding while other samples fracture at low strain without yielding. POM results indicated that all these spherulites show the same characteristic “Maltese cross” patterns. With the increasing content of polymyrcene, the perfection of spherulites decreases, especially for PLLA-b-PM-b-PLLA (200). Considering the current energy and environmental problems, it is expected that these fully biobased thermoplastic elastomers will be of great significance in expanding the applications of PLLA and solving the ecological crisis around us.