title: Ring-opening graft polymerization of propylene carbonate onto xylan in an ionic liquid.
abstract: The amidine organocatalyst 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) is an effective nucleophilic catalyst. Biocomposites with tuneable properties were successfully synthesized by ring-opening graft polymerization (ROGP) of propylene carbonate (PC) onto xylan using DBU as a catalyst in the ionic liquid (IL) 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([Amim]Cl). The effects of reaction temperature, reaction time and the molar ratio of PC to anhydroxylose units (AXU) in xylan were investigated. The physico-chemical properties of xylan-graft-poly(propylene carbonate) (xylan-g-PPC) copolymers were characterised by FT-IR, NMR, TGA/DTG, AFM and tensile analysis. The FT-IR and NMR results indicated the successful attachment of PPC onto xylan. TGA/DTG suggested the increased thermal stability of xylan after the attachment of PPC side chains. AFM analysis revealed details about the molecular aggregation of xylan-g-PPC films. The results also showed that with the increased DS of xylan-g-PPC copolymers, the tensile strength and Young's modulus of the films decreased, while the elongation at break increased.
authors: State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China. xueqin0228@gmail.com.
authors: Xueqin
authors: X
authors: Zhang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China. mangienew@gmail.com.
authors: Mingjie
authors: M
authors: Chen
authors: State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China. chfliu@scut.edu.cn.
authors: Chuanfu
authors: C
authors: Liu
authors: Institute of New Energy and New Material, Guangdong Key Laboratory for Innovative Development and Utilization of Forest Plant Germplasm, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China. aiping@scau.edu.cn.
authors: Aiping
authors: A
authors: Zhang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China. rcsun@scut.edu.cn.|Beijing Key Laboratory of Lignocellulosic Chemistry, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China. rcsun@scut.edu.cn.
authors: Runcang
authors: R
authors: Sun
mesh_terms: D052578:Ionic Liquids; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D019906:Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular; D058105:Polymerization; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry; D011407:Propane / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013816:Thermodynamics; D014990:Xylans / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D052578:Ionic Liquids; D011108:Polymers; D014990:Xylans; C045990:propylene carbonate; D011407:Propane