Terpolymerization of carbon dioxide (CO2) with propylene oxide (PO) and maleic anhydride (MA) was successfully carried out using supported zinc glutarate catalyst. Consequently giving high molecular weight poly(propylene carbonate maleate) (PPCMA) in a very high yield (72.5 g polymer/g catalyst). The resulting terpolymers were fully characterized by FTIR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD) techniques. NMR measurements showed that PPCMA had an almost alternating structure for the components of carbon dioxide and PO. The influence of molecular weight and MA content on the properties of PPCMA was also investigated. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements revealed that the glass transition temperature (Tg) of PPCMA increased with increasing molecular weight. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) indicated that PPCMA51 exhibited a very high decomposition temperature (263°C) due to the introduction of the double bond of MA into the backbone of terpolymer. The terpolymers with double bonds can be readily subjected to crosslinking reaction in high temperature to give a slightly crosslinked PPCMA, which exhibit superior thermal stability. Tensile tests also showed that the mechanical properties of PPCMA increased with increasing molecular weight. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008

Self-supporting Ti3C2Txfoam/S cathodes demonstrate the excellent rate capacity, cycling stability, and energy density for use in lithium–sulfur batteries.

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Poly(propylene carbonate)/starch (PPC/starch) composites with different starch contents were prepared by melt compounding. The biodegradability of the composites was studied by soil burial for a period of 6 months. FTIR study, thermal analysis and morphology observation indicated clearly the changes of the buried specimens. The weight loss curves and the molecular weight changes of the specimens revealed a three-stage biodegradation, corresponding to the propagation of microorganisms, the degradation of starch and the degradation of PPC. The experimental results showed that the addition of starch accelerated the degradation of PPC. Specimens with higher starch content exhibited greater weight loss in the second stage and smaller weight loss in the third stage.

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