Preparation of chlorinated poly(propylene carbonate) and its distinguished properties

Abstract

Poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC), the copolymerization product of carbon dioxide and propylene oxide, was chlorinated for the first time in our laboratory. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and ion chromatography test showed that chlorine atoms were successfully introduced onto the polymer chains of PPC. We named this newborn polymer material as chlorinated poly(propylene carbonate) (CPPC). It is worth noting that the reaction conditions of the chlorination of PPC were quite mild, which could be easily and simply realized at industrial level. What is more important is that CPPC possessed many more distinguished properties in solubility, wettability, adhesiveness, and gas barrier compared with PPC. For example, the bonding strength of CPPC as thermal adhesive is nearly four times higher than that of PPC for wood, stainless steel and glass. The oxygen permeability coefficient of CPPC exhibits a decrease of 33% compared with that of PPC. Moreover, CPPC is quite stable in air, whereas it could be well biodegraded in soil compared with PPC. These results indicated that CPPC could be widely used in the fields of coating, adhesive, barrier materials and so on, which could greatly promote the development of PPC industry.