Sustainable thermoplastic elastomers from terpene-derived monomers

macro bolton 2014

Bolton, J. M.; Hillmyer, M. A.; Hoye, T. R. ACS Macro Lett. 20143, 717–720.

Abstract

ABA triblock polymers were prepared by living anionic polymerization of the pinene-derivable monomers α-methyl-p-methylstyrene and myrcene. The resulting thermoplastic elastomers displayed microphase separation at moderate molar mass, an upper service temperature about 70 °C higher than traditional petroleum-derived styrenic thermoplastic elastomers, competitive tensile strengths of up to 10 MPa, impressive ultimate elongations of up to 1300%, and remarkably low energy loss recovery attributes.