Environmentally-corrosive, high-performance biopolyamides with a rigid N-substituted pyrrolidone ring was prepared from the biomonomer itaconic acid (IA), which was mass-produced by the fermentation of Aspergillus terreus.We used salt-type monomers composed of diacidic IA and diamines. These salts thermally converted into polyamides in the presence of sodium dihydrogen phosphate through the aza-Michael addition, followed by intramolecular cyclization to create a pyrrolidone ring in the polymer main-chain. Figure 1 . a) Syntheses of itaconic acid-derived polyamides from its salt with aliphatic diamines, b) Ring-opening conversion of pyrrolidone in polymer backbone.Polyamides with molecular weights ranging over 28 000 showed Tg values over 87 oC, which were higher than conventional polyamides (around 57 oC). The Young's modulus and mechanical strength of these polyamides also showed high values of 430-2800 MPa and 90-165 MPa, respectively. In addition, the polyamides became soluble in water by ring-opening reaction of the pyrrolidone. Actually the ring-opening reaction was induced by ultra-violet irradiation and landfill in environmental soil as well as alkaline hydrolysis. Especially photo-induced water-solubilization is very important for development of environmentally-corrosive fish line to avoid the damage of creature in the sea. Moreover we will report the composite preparation of biopolyamides with clay such as montmorillonites to improve the mechanical properties.

Environmentally-corrosive, high-performance biopolyamides derived from itaconic acid and their composites with montmorillonite

247th National Meeting (2014)

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