Nathanael Guigo
University Nice Sophia Antipolis,France
Title: PEF (polyethylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate): a new emerging biobased polyester from carbohydrates.
Biography
Biography: Nathanael Guigo
Abstract
Poly(ethylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PEF) is nowadays considered as a promising sustainable successor of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) for several reasons. First, the PEF is fully biobased since it comes from the polycondensation of bio-based ethylene glycol and 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) which is the chemical analogue of the terephthalic acid. FDCA is currently a.o. produced at pilot plant scale by a C6 sugars conversion process of vegetable biomass by Avantium. PEF possesses superior barrier properties and more attractive thermal properties (e.g., higher glass transition temperature and lower melting point) than PET. The much lower CO2, O2 and H2O permeability of PEF is a tremendous advantage for packaging applications. In order to fill the requirements of industrial applications a deep knowledge of polymer structure-property relations is needed and will be the subject of this presentation. An important aspect for both the production and application of aromatic polyesters such as PEF is their crystallization behavior. Drying and solid state polymerization processes, that are common for polyesters, occur above Tg and require the material to be semi-crystalline to avoid massive agglomeration or sticking.This is initially achieved by quiescent crystallization of the polyester. PEF crystals either formed from the glass or from the melt show similar structures but the dynamic of crystal growth differs between the two crystallization pathways. Moreover, annealing at temperatures close to the PEF melting point allowed obtaining information on PEF self-nucleation behavior.