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Lignin-Sourced Aromatics for Biodegradable Flexible Copolyesters Mimicking Poly(Butylene Adipate-co-Terephthalate)

Nguyen, Tam T. LU ; Garcia Gonzalez, Maria Nelly LU orcid ; Engqvist, Jonas LU orcid ; Wahlberg, Jan ; Liu, Gangjin ; Liu, Jing LU ; Jannasch, Patric LU orcid and Zhang, Baozhong LU (2025) In ChemSusChem 18(23).
Abstract
Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) is an important commercial biodegradable flexible copolyester, which is dependent on the fossil-based terephthalates for production. In the present work, two series of PBAT-mimicking copolyesters are synthesized using lignin-sourced aromatic monomers, i.e., methyl 4-(2-hydroxyethoxy) vanillate and methyl 4-(2-hydroxyethoxy) benzoate, aliphatic dimethyl adipate, and 1,4-butanediol. The greenhouse gas emissions associated with the monomer synthesis are investigated by life cycle assessment, and the solvent usage is evaluated. The copolyesters show reasonably high thermal stability, and tunable glass transition temperature and crystallinity upon varying the aromatic–aliphatic ratio.... (More)
Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) is an important commercial biodegradable flexible copolyester, which is dependent on the fossil-based terephthalates for production. In the present work, two series of PBAT-mimicking copolyesters are synthesized using lignin-sourced aromatic monomers, i.e., methyl 4-(2-hydroxyethoxy) vanillate and methyl 4-(2-hydroxyethoxy) benzoate, aliphatic dimethyl adipate, and 1,4-butanediol. The greenhouse gas emissions associated with the monomer synthesis are investigated by life cycle assessment, and the solvent usage is evaluated. The copolyesters show reasonably high thermal stability, and tunable glass transition temperature and crystallinity upon varying the aromatic–aliphatic ratio. Aerobic biodegradation experiments of the obtained copolyesters over 90 days show a comparable or even faster biodegradation rate compared to the benchmark polymer PBAT. The oxygen gas barrier of the obtained terephthalate-free copolyester films is effectively enhanced compared to that of PBAT, indicating their potential in flexible food packaging applications. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
ChemSusChem
volume
18
issue
23
article number
e202501297
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • scopus:105018848080
  • pmid:41099581
ISSN
1864-564X
DOI
10.1002/cssc.202501297
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
259b9605-f6f4-4c58-9765-59e3b7e3660b
date added to LUP
2024-11-28 17:22:53
date last changed
2025-12-30 03:00:14
@article{259b9605-f6f4-4c58-9765-59e3b7e3660b,
  abstract     = {{Poly(butylene adipate-<i>co</i>-terephthalate) (PBAT) is an important commercial biodegradable flexible copolyester, which is dependent on the fossil-based terephthalates for production. In the present work, two series of PBAT-mimicking copolyesters are synthesized using lignin-sourced aromatic monomers, i.e., methyl 4-(2-hydroxyethoxy) vanillate and methyl 4-(2-hydroxyethoxy) benzoate, aliphatic dimethyl adipate, and 1,4-butanediol. The greenhouse gas emissions associated with the monomer synthesis are investigated by life cycle assessment, and the solvent usage is evaluated. The copolyesters show reasonably high thermal stability, and tunable glass transition temperature and crystallinity upon varying the aromatic–aliphatic ratio. Aerobic biodegradation experiments of the obtained copolyesters over 90 days show a comparable or even faster biodegradation rate compared to the benchmark polymer PBAT. The oxygen gas barrier of the obtained terephthalate-free copolyester films is effectively enhanced compared to that of PBAT, indicating their potential in flexible food packaging applications.}},
  author       = {{Nguyen, Tam T. and Garcia Gonzalez, Maria Nelly and Engqvist, Jonas and Wahlberg, Jan and Liu, Gangjin and Liu, Jing and Jannasch, Patric and Zhang, Baozhong}},
  issn         = {{1864-564X}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{23}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{ChemSusChem}},
  title        = {{Lignin-Sourced Aromatics for Biodegradable Flexible Copolyesters Mimicking Poly(Butylene Adipate-<i>co</i>-Terephthalate)}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202501297}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/cssc.202501297}},
  volume       = {{18}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}