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.