To establish a super-engineering plastic concurrently with a sustainable green society, bio-based polyimide (PI), is an attractive candidate for fabrication of high-performance polymeric materials due to its mechanical durability, thermal stability and chemical compatibility. In this study, we are focusing on 4-aminophenylalanine (4-APhe), a bio-based aromatic amino acid derived from glucose fermentation, to generate a novel bio-derived monomer for the synthesis of bio-based high performance polymer. Through the molecular design, the established monomer composes of three important parts: diamine, aromatic and 2,5-diketopiperazine (2,5-DKP). Diamines are reactive to synthesis polymers such as PI. Aromatic help improve the performance and overcome the drawbacks of biomass utilization. Here, we developed bio-based PIs from various dianhydrides with a novel bioavailable aromatic amines, which were dimerized from 4-APhe. These PIs showed high thermal resistance with 427 oC as a highest T10 values. Using the developed synthesis route template, other amino acids such as lysine could be cross coupled with 4-APhe to provide diverse monomers for various polymer generations. Composing of 2,5-DKP units in the polymer structure, this could induce particulation via self-assembly through H-bonding formation. Polyamic acid (PAA) particles, the precursor of PI particles, were basically prepared by reprecipitation with the inclusion of surfactants. The physical properties of PAA particles and PI particles such as shape, size and size distribution were studied. In this work, the effect of dispersed solvents on PAA and PI particles size and shape was also investigated. Using 20% acetone in water as a dispersed solvent, PAA particles showed virus-liked shape while in the absence of acetone the particles in spherical shape were obtained with narrow size distribution.

Bio-based amino acid polymers and their self-assembly phenomenon

2019 Spring National Meeting

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