Synthesis and Characterization of Poly（ω-pentadecalactone） for Its Industrial-scale Production

The synthesis of biomaterial poly（ω-pentadecalactone）（PPDL） with yttrium isopropoxide as initiator in bulk was explored for its industrial-scale production. The weight-average molecular weight（Mw ） of PPDL could be controlled by the molar ratio of monomer to initiator（M/I）, polymerization temperature（Tp） and period（tp）. The syn- thesis conditions were optimized, and a high Mw of 9.2×10^4 of PPDL could be obtained by the reaction at an M/I molar ratio of 1000/1 and 100 ℃ for only 30 min, which presented tough properties with a tensile strength of about 20 MPa and an elongation at break of about 300%. This mechanical property was comparable to that of high density polyethylene（HDPE）. The melting point was about 96 ℃, and 5% of mass loss temperature（T5%） was as high as 340℃. Thus, the PPDL with good mechanical properties and high thermal stability can be synthesized without sol- vent at low expenses.