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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

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Research toward bio-based and biodegradable polymers has received a lot of attention these last years, due to environmental concerns and the need to replace fossil resources. Starch is in this frame an interesting starting material due to its abundance and low cost. Native starch displays however, poor mechanical properties and is highly hydrophilic. New starch-based thermoplastic materials can be prepared to overcome these drawbacks by chemical modification, and notably graft copolymerization. A large range of polymers can be grafted on starch by ring-opening and radical polymerizations of various monomers in order to modulate the properties of the final product. Polymers can also be directly grafted onto starch using coupling strategies. This review presents the state of the art in the field.

International audienceNew catalytic systems are developed to increase the transesterification efficiency during the synthesis of poly(ethylene terephthalate-co-isosorbide terephthalate) with the aim of compensating for the lack of reactivity of the isosorbide and to reduce the coloration of the polymer. The combination of antimony oxide with a second metal (lithium-, magnesium-, or aluminium-based compounds) is investigated, leading to the discovery of innovative antimony-based bimetallic catalytic systems that exhibit a higher polymerization efficiency, even at high isosorbide contents (20%) and, in some cases, lower coloration