Biorenewable functional oligomers and polymers – Direct copolymerization of ferulic acid to obtain polymeric UV absorbers and multifunctional materials

Abstract

Ferulic acid (FA) (3-methoxy-4-hydroxy-cinnamic acid) is obtained from biowaste such as bran of rice, wheat and maize. It possesses tremendous potential for making polymers suited to specialty applications. This manuscript describes the use of FA directly to produce functional polymers useful for making aqueous dispersions, films and other materials with multifunctional characteristics. pH responsive polymers were also prepared for the first time by using off-the-shelf reagents in one step. In the case of pH responsive polymers the absorption maximum (λmax) varied with pH of the medium. The pH responsive polymers were further modified to zwitterioninc polymers and UV absorbing polymeric quaternary ammonium salts. Zwitterionic polymers dispersed well in water. Hydrolytic studies in phosphate buffer indicated that the stability of polymers depended on the chemical structure. The polymers are potentially useful as UV absorbing films and biorenewable multifunctional materials.