Rational design for the development of thermoplastic poly(ether-ester) elastomers from bio-based 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid with high elasticity

Development of bio-based thermoplastic poly(ether-ester) elastomer (TPEE) with high performance similar to commercial and petroleum-based TPEE is of great interesting nowadays. Herein, by considering both the hard and soft segments, a rational design strategy is proposed for the synthesis of bio-based TPEE with high elasticity based on a bio-based aromatic monomer 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA). The hard segment is poly(neopentyl glycol 2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PNF), a FDCA-based polyester with both high melting temperature and crystallization ability. While the soft segment is poly(tetramethylene glycol) (PTMG), which is widely used for the synthesis of TPEE. By adjusting the molecular weight (Mn) of PTMG soft segment from 650 to 2900 g/mol and its content from 50 to 70 wt%, a series of bio-based TPEEs with excellent performance were synthesized. Our preliminary study of PNF-PTMG multiblock copolymers has shown that the elastic recovery rate is outstanding. The initial elastic recovery ratio at 200 % strain can approach 80 % when the Mn of PTMG is 2000 g/mol and the wt.% of PTMG was 70 %, which is significantly higher than those of the commercial TPEEs. PNF-PTMG displays increasing thermal resistance with Tm up to 194 °C with the increasing of soft segment length. This study suggests a feasible solution for the preparation of bio-based TPEE with ideal performance.