Scalable Synthesis of Biodegradable Polyesters Based on Interfacial Polymerization

Biodegradable polyesters have gained increasing attention as environmentally friendly alternatives to polyolefins, due to their attractive mechanical properties and thermal processability through thermoforming and melt processing. State-of-the-art synthetic routes for aliphatic and aliphatic-aromatic polyesters employ reaction conditions that are not conducive to industrial scale production, such as inert gas environments, high reaction temperatures, long reaction times, and applied vacuum. These complex reaction conditions are a result of oxidation and slow reaction rates due to limited functional group reactivity of the monomers. Here we discuss the development of an open-air, room temperature and scalable synthesis of polyesters based on interfacial polymerization (IP). We investigate the suitability of environmentally friendly solvents and solvent blends in inducing simultaneous fast polycondensation and polymer precipitation in IP and characterize how reaction conditions depend on the backbone chemistry of the synthesized polyesters. This IP route has the potential to enable large-scale production of biodegradable polyesters for applications in consumer products such as packaging and textiles.