Fast Crystallization and Melting Behavior of a Long-Spaced Aliphatic Furandicarboxylate Biobased Polyester, Poly(dodecylene 2,5-furanoate)

Poly­(dodecylene\n2,5-furanoate) (PDoF) is a novel alipharomatic\npolyester which was prepared by combining a long chain glycol as the\nmonomer (1,12-dodecamethylene glycol) and 2,5-furan dicarboxylic acid\n(FDCA), which can be derived from biomass. A variation of the well-known\ntwo-step polycondensation method was applied for the preparation of\nPDoF. The glass transition temperature of this polyester, which was\nrecorded by using fast scanning calorimetry (FSC) is observed at −5\n°C. The melting temperature is about 111 °C while the equilibrium\nmelting temperature was extrapolated through Hoffman–Week plots\nto 127.3 ± 0.2 °C. New insights in the complex melting behavior\nwere obtained by employing conventional and temperature modulated\ncalorimetry. The crystallization kinetics in isothermal and nonisothermal\nmodes were investigated by means of Avrami and Lauritzen–Hoffman\nmodels and model-free kinetics. The thermal stability of PDoF was\nreduced in comparison with previously studied furanoates, as a result\nof the flexible macromolecular chains of the material, while the nucleation\ndensity was high and the spherulitic size was small.