Thermal properties of copolymers based on sugar [articol]

Abstract

Carbohydrate based polymers have emerged as exciting topics of the polymer research, due to a worldwide focus on sustainable materials. The biodegradable polymers are indispensable in the modern society and their importance is continuously growing. We report here the characterization of a new class of biodegradable copolymers derived from monosaccharides.The glycomonomers 3-O-acryloyl-1,2:5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-α-glucofuranose (ADAG), and 1-O-acryloyl-2,3:5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-α-mannofuranose (ADAM), were co-polymerized with some acrylates and methacrylates, using as initiators benzoyl peroxide and lauroyl peroxide. The resulting copolymers were characterized by FT-IR, and the thermal stability of the copolymers was investigated using TG analysis, allowing a kinetic study of the degradation.