A green pathway to adjust the mechanical properties and degradation rate of PCL by blending bio-sourced poly(glycerol-succinate) oligoesters

Abstract

Fully bio-sourced oligoesters based on poly(glycerol-succinate) (PGS) with controllable sizes and topologies were prepared by melt phase polycondensation. The oligoesters were further used to modify poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) by the blending method under mild processing conditions. As can be observed, the PGS modifier was well dispersed in the PCL matrix. The PGS could influence the crystallization and significantly accelerate the degradation of the PCL matrix. There was no significant decrease of mechanical properties after blending modification. Notably, the method used here is quite convenient and solvent-free, by which we can achieve PCL modification under very mild conditions. Therefore, the work proposed here is an effective, sustainable and environmentally friendly modifying method for PCL to accelerate the degradation rate.