Terpene-based Polymers

 

C. Wahlen, J. Blankenburg, P. v. Tiedemann, J. Ewald, P. Sajkiewicz, A. H. E. Müller, G. Floudas, H. Frey, Macromolecules 2020, 53 (23), 10397–10408.

Terpenes like β-myrcene and β-farnesene are bio-based alternatives for the petroleum-based 1,3-diene monomer isoprene, which is commercially used for the synthesis of thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) on large scale. In this work the influence of the polydiene architectures of terpene-based styrenic TPEs on their mechanical properties was investigated. The unique bottlebrush-like structure of the polyfarnesene mid-blocks exhibits a high entanglement molecular weight in comparison to linear polyisoprene blocks, resulting in decreased toughness of the TPEs. However, the bottlebrush-like structure of polyfarnesene reduces the solution viscosity of the block copolymers, which enhances the processing by electrospinning for the production of well-defined nanofibers.