Effect of molecular weight on the physical properties of poly(ethylene brassylate) homopolymers

Poly(ethylene brassylate) (PEB) is a biodegradable polyester that nowadays is of particular interest owing to its poly(ε-caprolactone)-like properties (with a Tg at −30°C and a Tm at 70°C) and the low-cost of its monomer. However, it is not simple to achieve high molar masses with conventional catalysts. In this work, high molar mass PEBs, characterized by SEC-MALS, were successfully synthesized using triphenyl bismuth (Ph3Bi) as catalyst. Then, with the aim of evaluating the impact of the molecular weight on the physical properties, several PEBs ranging from 27 to 247kgmol−1 were prepared. It was demonstrated that above a Mw of 90Kgmol−1, PEB behaved in a constant manner. PEBs with lower molecular weight (20MPa. ▪