Towards biodegradable elastomers: green synthesis of carbohydrate functionalized styrene–butadiene–styrenecopolymer by click chemistry

Abstract

Random attachment of sugar molecules to synthetic polymers is an important strategy to induce biodegradability in these polymers. The present study successfully employs “click” chemistry to introduce low levels of sugar molecules onto styrene–butadiene–styrene (SBS) copolymer, a widely used commodity polymer which is not biodegradable. Spectral, morphological and thermal studies of the modified polymers were carried out to show the dramatic changes in the properties of these modified polymers. Thermal stability of glucose linked SBS had onset of degradation at 428 °C, down from 478 °C observed for SBS. Morphology studied by WAXRD and SEM showed destructuring of the polymer domains of SBS, which is beneficial for biodegradation of these polymers. Previous studies showed that sugars anchored by hydrolysable ester groups onto polystyrene were biodegradable; current studies show that sugars anchored by unhydrolyzable C–C bonds on the butadiene component of SBS copolymer are also significantly biodegradable.