High thermal resistance amorphous copolyesters synthesized from bio-based 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid

The polyesters with high T g (≥100°C) and good clarity are desired in fabricating heat-resistance containers such as baby bottles, cups, medical apparatus, and kitchen appliances. In this work, a series of poly(butylene bis[4-(2-hydroxyethoxy) phenyl] sulfone 1,4-cyclohexanedimethylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PBSCFs) that show superior thermal and mechanical properties against current bio-based polyesters were synthesized via a melt polycondensation method. The accurate chemical structures of PBSCFs were confirmed by 1 H-NMR and 13 C-NMR. The SEC results show that PBSCFs have number averaged molar mass ( M n ) in the range of 9700–28,500 g/mol. The T g of PBSCFs increase from 94°C for PBSF to 108°C for PBSCF-50 as the increasing of CHDM unit. Meanwhile, the ductility of PBSCFs also improved with the elongation at break of PBSCF-40 increased to 223%. In addition, the PBSCF-40 sample reported in this paper shows thermal decomposition temperature of 427°C, transmittance of 84.6%, haze of only 0.17%, tensile strength of 74.1 MPa, and tensile modulus of 2287 MPa.