A Green Versatile Platform for Synthesising Renewable Ether-Based Thermoplastic Elastomers

Abstract

Ether-based polymers are commonly used in diverse applications. However, it is challenging to synthesise polyethers with more than five methylene groups in their main chains, which limits the molecular design of ether-based polymers. Creating a new synthesis pathway to enabling green chemistry and flexible design of their molecular structures is, therefore, highly desired. Here, a green versatile platform is presented for synthesising renewable ether-based thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) with broad and tuneable properties. An organic acid catalyst is used to synthesise a long-chain polyether diol from a fatty acid diol via a SN2 reaction. This biobased, renewable polyether diol then serves as a universal platform for the synthesis of a wide spectrum of TPEs including thermoplastic polyurethanes, poly(urethane urea)s and poly(ether ester) elastomers, with controllable mechanical properties, excellent transparency and chemical resistance. The structureproperty relationships, processability, and sustainability of these TPEs are also reported. The synthesis of these biobased TPEs can be readily scaled up, and different types of products are manufactured from the elastomers. This work provides a viable synthesis strategy to overcoming the limitations of the molecular design facing existing ether-based polymers, while enabling the sustainable manufacture of renewable ether-based TPE materials and products.