A New Generation of Furanic Copolyesters with Enhanced Degradability: Poly(ethylene 2,5‐furandicarboxylate)‐co‐poly(lactic acid) Copolyesters

2,5‐Furandicarboxylic acid is a promising renewable‐based monomer essentially used in polymer synthesis to prepare renewable‐based counterparts to petrochemical polyesters. In general, they are entirely based on renewable resources and have a myriad of very interesting thermal and mechanical properties; however, this study is the first to tackle their (bio)degradability, a worldwide‐demanded property. To address this demand, an entirely new generation of furandicarboxylate‐derived copolyesters, based on both poly(ethylene 2,5‐furandicarboxylate) (PEF) and poly(lactic acid) (PLA), is developed for the first time. These copolyesters are characterized by several techniques, including attenuated total reflectance‐Fourier transform IR (ATR‐FTIR), 1 H, and 13 C NMR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), DSC, and X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and their degradability behavior is evaluated by water‐absorption studies and hydrolytic degradation. They are essentially stiff amorphous polymers possessing high T g s, e.g., ca. 69 °C for 29% of lactyl units. Importantly, the data show also that they have improved degradability when compared with the PEF homopolyester counterpart. image