International audienceThe efficiency of organometal- (Ti, Zr, Sn, Hf, and Bi) and metal oxide- (Ge and Sb) based catalysts was investigated during the transesterification step of the synthesis of poly(butylene succinate) (PBS). PBS was prepared from succinic acid and 1,4-butanediol via a two-stage melt polycondensation process. The catalytic efficiency of the organometal catalysts was as follows: Ti≫Zr∼ Sn>Hf>Sb>Bi. The germanium and antimony metal oxides displayed desirable catalytic efficiency when were associated with hydroxy acids (lactic acid or glycolic acid), which acted as chelating agents. However, this catalytic system exhibited lower efficiency compared to the titanium system. Furthermore, at high concentrations of hydroxy acids the overall transesterification rate decreased. This effect can be explained by the substitution of PBS hydroxyl end groups by a lactic or glycolic unit, both of which are less reactive during the transesterification reaction. The role of catalytic residues during the storage and processing of PBS was also studied. The reduced viscosity of the PBS samples did not vary when processing at 190 °C from 1 to 10 minutes. However, when stored under ambient conditions, all PBS samples were prone to significant hydrolytic degradation, especially those containing a titanium catalyst. This behavior indicates that zirconium- and germanium-based catalysts could be interesting substitutes for titanium-based catalysts
Abstract. Poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) is currently developing due to its biodegradability and the similarity of its mechanical properties to those of polyolefins. Relationships between the number average molar mass, M n -, and solution viscosity such as [!] and ! red were derived for this aliphatic polyester. M n -values were determined by end-group analysis and size exclusion chromatography (SEC). Mark-Houwink-Sakurada (MHS) parameters were proposed in two solvents and for the different molar masses and viscosity measurement methods. As an example, the MHS equations were respectively, [!] = 6.4·10 -4 ·M n 0.67 in chloroform and [!] = 7.1·10 -4 ·M n -0.69 in 50/50 wt% 1,2-dichlorobenzene/phenol at 25°C for molar masses measured by SEC in hexafluoro isopropanol (HFIP) with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) standards. Empirical relationships were also suggested to derive M n -directly from reduced viscosity, ! red , which is much easier to determine than intrinsic viscosity. With these data, the number average molar mass of PBS can be conveniently estimated from a single viscosity measurement. In addition, it was shown that PBS contains 1-2 wt% of cyclic oligomers produced during esterification and that molar masses determined by taking this fraction into account or not were significantly different, especially for long chains.
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