Hydrophilic polyesters as sustainable materials for consumer products and liquid formulations

液体配方中的聚合物存在于许多消费品和工业产品中，从油漆到洗发水再到洗涤剂。从数量上看，这些产品每年生产3600万吨，销售额为1250亿美元。在这些应用中，废物回收通常是不可行的，聚合物必须设计用于使用后的降解。目前，这些聚合物中的许多都来自石油化工产品，导致线性生命周期，并导致二氧化碳排放。未来，减少与这些重要产品相关的负面环境影响将是一个强大的驱动力。一种选择是开发从废弃生物质和二氧化碳中制造有用聚合物的方法。本研究通过研究使用可控聚合方法生产的新型聚合物结构，并对其结构和性能进行表征，解决了这一挑战。它侧重于开发新型聚合物，包括酯和碳酸盐键，均聚物，嵌段和共聚物。选择这些聚合物化学物质是因为它们可以被水解降解，许多是可生物降解的，并且从生物基资源开始合成是可行的。本文研究了控制良好的、催化开环和开环共聚反应的聚合物生产，包括确保它们具有高链端基选择性、快速速率和良好的摩尔质量控制。研究集中在一些领域，包括了解如何开发：(i)使用亲水性单体的聚合，这些单体是或可能来自可再生资源。（ii）高度活跃、选择性和可控的聚合过程。（iii）利用光谱、热、流变和溶液测量对新聚合物进行表征。（iv）聚合物结构-性能-降解关系。该项目属于EPSRC高分子材料研究领域。

Polymers in liquid formulations are found in many consumer and industrial products, from paints to shampoo to detergents. In terms of numbers, 36 million tonnes of these products are made and sold for $125bn each year. In these applications, waste recycling is generally not feasible and polymers must be designed for degradation after use. Currently, many of these polymers are derived from petrochemicals, resulting in linear lifecycles and resulting in contributions to carbon dioxide emissions. In future, there is a strong driver to reduce negative environmental impacts associated with these important products. One option is to develop methods to make useful polymers from waste biomass and carbon dioxide. This research addresses this challenge through investigation of new polymer structures, produced using controlled polymerization methodologies, and characterization of their structures and properties. It focusses on the development of new types of polymer comprising ester and carbonate linkages, both as homopolymers, block and copolymers. These polymer chemistries are selected because they are degradable by hydrolyses, many are biodegradable and syntheses are viable starting from bio-based resources. This thesis investigates polymer production using well-controlled, catalysed ring-opening and ring-opening copolymerisation reactions, including ensuring they operate high chain end-group selectivity, fast rates, and good molar mass control. Research focusses on a number of areas including understanding how to develop: (i) Polymerizations using hydrophilic monomers that are, or could be, sourced from renewable resources. (ii) Polymerization processes that are highly active, selective, and controlled. (iii) Characterization of the new polymers using a range of spectroscopic, thermal, rheological and solution measurements. (iv) Polymer Structure-Performance-Degradation Relationships. This project falls within the EPSRC Polymer materials research area.