Synthesis of Bio-Based Polymers

With plastic polymer production at an all-time high and continuing to rise, there is a need for a sustainable alternative to the current petroleum-based plastics that dominate global markets. Bio-derived plastic polymers utilise renewable feedstocks and therefore are not reliant on fossil fuels that in future will suffer from increasingly unreliable supplies as reserves become depleted making this commodity more susceptible to economic and environmental issues that may disrupt supply. This project focuses on the synthesis of sustainably sourced highly cross-linked polyesters via the ring-opening copolymerization reaction between epoxides and cyclic anhydrides. Macaw oil and Baru oil, which can be obtained from Brazilian biomass, have been epoxidized prior to the start of this project. They were copolymerized with cyclic anhydrides that can be bio-derived, to produce eight different highly cross-linked polyester copolymers in a powder form, (yields ranging from 35-67%) four of which were then produced as polymer disks. These polyester powders were then used for end-of-life tests which showed that all powders testing completely decomposed in within 24hours of being soaked in 1M NaOH.