Bioenabled Platform to Access Polyamides with Built-In Target Properties
Prerana Carter, James L. Trettin, Ting‐Han Lee, Nickolas L. Chalgren, Michael Forrester, Brent H. Shanks, Jean‐Philippe Tessonnier, Eric W. Cochran
Abstract
The diversification of platform chemicals is key to today's petroleum industry. Likewise, the flourishing of tomorrow's biorefineries will rely on molecules with next-generation properties from biomass. Herein, we explore this opportunity with a novel approach to monomers with custom property enhancements. Cyclic diacids with alkyl and aromatic decorations were synthesized from muconic acid by Diels-Alder cycloaddition, and copolymerized with hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid to yield polyamides with built-in hydrophobicity and flame retardancy. Testing shows a 70% reduction in water uptake and doubling of char production while largely retaining other key properties of the parent Nylon-6,6. The present approach can be generalized to access a wide range of performance-advantaged polyamides.