Solution viscosity – molar mass relationships for poly(butylene succinate) and discussion on molar mass analysis

Abstract

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.

Controlled‐release fertilizer based on poly(butylene succinate)/urea/clay and its effect on lettuce growth

“…Several examples can be cited, such as chitin, poly(lactic acid), cellulose acetate, starch, and more incipiently poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) . This polymer is obtained by the polycondensation of 1,4‐butanediol and succinic acid . PBS is an aliphatic, thermoplastic, and crystalline polyester with excellent thermal and mechanical properties .…”

Review on PCL, PBS, and PCL/PBS blends containing carbon nanotubes

“…PCL was blended with various other biodegradable polymers in a number of studies [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Amongst various biodegradable polymers, PBS was the most interesting aliphatic polyester due to its relatively good melt processability, thermal and chemical resistance, biodegradability, and excellent mechanical properties, closely comparable to those of the widely-used polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) [4,5,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. Double crystalline PCL/PBS blends are particularly interesting because each component has an influence on the crystallization behaviour of the other component.…”

Synthesis and characterization of fully biobased poly(propylene succinate‐ran‐propylene adipate). Analysis of the architecture‐dependent physicochemical behavior

“…M n determined by P‐NMR varied between 8500 and 15,000 g mol −1 and this technique gave a more accurate estimation of the aliphatic copolyesters molar mass. However, this method based on the quantification of end‐groups did not take into account the possible macrocycles that could have been produced during the polyester synthesis and were present on the polymer matrix but undetectable by P‐NMR analysis …”