The attention towards the utilization of sustainable feedstocks for polymer synthesis has grown exponentially in recent years. One of the spotlighted monomers derived from renewable resources is 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), one of the most promising bio-based monomers, due to its resemblance to petroleum-based terephthalic acid. Very interesting synthetic routes using this monomer have been reported in the last two decades. Combining the use of biobased monomers and non-toxic chemicals via enzymatic polymerizations can lead to a robust and favorable approach towards a greener technology of bio-based polymer production. In this chapter, a brief introduction to FDCA-based monomers and enzymatic polymerizations is given, particularly focusing on furanbased polymers and their polymerization. In addition, an outline of the recent developments in the field of enzymatic polymerizations is discussed.
Elastomer-based wearables can improve people's lives; however, frictional wear caused by manipulation may pose significant concerns regarding their durability and sustainability. To address the aforementioned issue, a new class of advanced scalable supersoft elastic transparent material (ASSETm) is reported, which offers a unique combination of scalability (20 g scale), stretchability (up to 235%), and enzymatic degradability (up to 65% in 30 days). The key feature of our design is to render native dextrin hydrophobic, which turns it into a macroinitiator for bulk ring-opening polymerization. Based on ASSETm, a self-powered touch sensor (ASSETm−TS) for touch sensing and non-contact approaching detection, possessing excellent electrical potential (up to 65 V) and rapid response time (60 ms), is fabricated. This work is a step toward developing sustainable soft electronic systems, and ASSETm's tunability enables further improvement of electrical outputs, enhancing human-interactive applications.
The development of bio-based polymers is growing not only due to their abundance in nature but also mainly because of the current issues with fossil-based plastics. Enzymatic polymerizations are a promising way to produce such polymers since they are known to be environmentally friendly. Sustainable polymers that require a greener production process can be realized easily via this polymerization route. However, the use of organic solvents is often one of the drawbacks in developing pathways toward fully green enzymatic polymerization methods. Therefore, in the present work, a series of fully bio-based polyesters based on 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), namely, furanic-aliphatic polyesters (FPEs), were enzymatically synthesized using greener solvents, such as ionic liquids (ILs) and deep eutectic solvents (DESs). The enzymatic polymerization in ILs and DESs effectively leads to the FDCA-based polyesters without any byproduct, which frequently causes coloration using traditional polymerization methods. FPEs with M w up to 5.4 kg mol −1 were successfully achieved by Novozyme 435-catalyzed polycondensation of dimethyl 2,5-furandicarboxylate (DMFDCA) with aliphatic diols in BMIMPF 6 . Polymerization in DESs was also successfully conducted, resulting in the synthesis of bio-based polyesters, which can be further functionalized. Characterization using TGA, DSC, and WAXD showed that all obtained FPEs are semi-crystalline materials, which decomposed around 390 °C with a T m of 68−123 °C and T g of 3−12 °C. With this, we successfully developed more eco-friendly enzymatic synthesis routes for the production of sustainable polyesters
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.