Synthesis of bio-based poly(ester-ether) elastomers from 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) with excellent thermo-mechanical properties

As a novel polyester possessing high melting temperature and well crystallization ability, poly(1,4-cyclohexanedimethylene furandicarboxylate) (PCF), produced from bio-based 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid and 1, 4-cyclohexanedimethanol, could be used as promising hard segment to develop new bio-based thermoplastic poly(ether-ester) elastomer (TPEE). Multiblock poly(ether-ester)s based on PCF, with molecular weight ( M n ) of soft segments poly(tetramethylene glycol) (PTMG) ranging from 250 to 2900 g/mol while maintaining the weight fraction at 70%, were synthesized to investigate the effects of soft segments length on microphase structure and thermodynamic properties of copolymers. The results show that the increase in M n of the soft segment promotes the microphase separation of the copolymers. Macroscopically, copolymers have excellent comprehensive properties. T m was promoted from 126.0 to 228.7 °C, and T d,5% was higher than 320 °C. The tensile strength and modulus of resulting copolymers were within the range of 14–26 MPa and 29–53 MPa, respectively, with elongation at break exceeding 550%. The copolymer exhibited elastic recovery ratio of 75.5% at 200% strain when the M n of PTMG unit was 2000 g/mol. This work introduces a new bio-based TPEE and enriches a detailed understanding of the impact of soft segments length on the structural properties of TPEE, which is fundamental to design tailor-made TPEE with desired properties.