The synthesis and properties of biodegradable poly(butylene succinate‐b‐triethylene glycol succinate)

Abstract Poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) is a biodegradable polymer material. The main disadvantages of PBS are high crystallinity, poor toughness, and slow degradation rate. To solve these problems, PBS was modified by block copolymerization. In this paper, hydroxy‐terminated poly (butylene succinate) (HO‐PBS‐OH) and hydroxy‐terminated poly(triethylene glycol succinate) (HO‐PTEG‐OH) were synthesized, and then HDI (1,6‐diisocyanated'hexamethylene) was used as chain extender. A series of poly(butylene succinate‐b‐triethylene glycol succinate) (PBS‐b‐PTEG) were prepared. The structure and properties of the copolymer were characterized by 1H‐NMR, DSC, XRD, electronic universal testing machine, and degradation test. The results showed that the copolymers were miscible in the amorphous region. The results show that the copolymers are miscible in the amorphous region, and there is only one glass transition temperature and one melting point. The crystallinity of the copolymer decreased with the increase of the PTEG segment. The addition of the PTEG segment enhanced and toughened PBS and increased the elongation at break of the PBS‐b‐PTEG 20% sample to 3.2 times that of PBS. The degradation test results showed that the addition of the PTEG segment could improve the degradation performance of PBS. Highlights PTEG has good hydrophilicity and can be used as a soft segment of copolymers. PBS‐b‐PTEG has higher elongation at break and better toughness compared to PBS. The melting temperature ( T m ) of PBS‐b‐PTFE did not significantly decrease. The crystallinity of PBS‐b‐PTEG decreased compared to PBS. PTEG destroyed the crystallinity, increasing the degradation rate of PBS.