A proof-of-concept study on a fully biobased and degradable polymer network based on vanillin and myrcene

Abstract

Despite the widespread use of polymer networks, their development has tended to disregard crucial sustainability considerations. In particular, their production and their management at the end-of-life can generate high environmental impacts. Therefore, the design of fully biobased and degradable polymer networks is of great importance. In this work, vanillin and myrcene were selected as renewable resources and a carbonate unit as cleavable linkage to induce a possible network disassembly. Vanillin was converted into a symmetric α,ω-diene featuring a carbonate unit in its center. This monomer was copolymerized by thiol–ene reaction with a myrcene derived trithiol to form a polymer network. An elastic transparent film exhibiting a glass transition temperature of 14 °C, a Young's modulus of 6.87 MPa, an ultimate tensile strength of 1.48 MPa and an elongation at break of 148% was obtained. Owing to the inherent carbonate group, the polymer network could be degraded under acidic conditions into a polyol with an OH content of 2.23 mmol g⁻¹, as determined by ¹³P NMR. The polyol obtained by degradation was effectively repolymerized to produce a new polyurethane. These proof-of-concept findings provide a potential strategy for circularization of biobased polymer networks.