Hydrophilic polyesters as sustainable materials for consumer products and liquid formulations

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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.