Synthesis and characterization of photo-crosslinkable copoly (carbonate-ester)s (PCE) derived from p-Hydroxy cinnamic acid (p-HCA) and bisphenol A (BPA)

Abstract

A series of new copoly(carbonate-ester)s derived from p-hydroxy cinnamic acid (p-HCA) and 2,2-bis-(4-hydroxyphenyl) propane (Bisphenol A, BPA) was synthesized by an interfacial polymerization process. Films of these unsaturated copolymers were exposed to UV-light and sunlight to induce crosslinking. The resulting crosslinked films were insoluble in strong polycarbonate solvents such as dichloromethane and chloroform. The initial optical properties of the film are similar to bisphenol A polycarbonate (BPA-PC) and reduced on exposure to UV and sunlight with time. The Tg’s of copolymers are in the range of BPA-PC and thermal stability is lower than BPA-PC.

The chemical resistance and the dimensional stability of the crosslinked systems are expected to be superior to the ones from BPA-PC. Moreover, the double bond functionality in the p-HCA-containing resin could potentially be used to graft acrylates or other unsaturated monomers onto the copoly (carbonate ester)-backbone.

Keywords:

• p-Hydroxy cinnamic acid
• bisphenol-A
• polycarbonate
• copoly(ester-carbonate)
• photo-crosslinking
• interfacial polymerization
• triphosgene
• optical properties
• thermal stability

Acknowledgement

The author would like to thank Analytical Technology group of SABIC Research and Technology Center (STC-B), Bengaluru for their help in analysis and measurement on copolymers. The author also would like to thank Dr. Kishan Gurram (Site Director, STC-B) and G. Sivalingam (Sr. Manager, Polymer teams, Catalyst MEAF, Petrochemical SBU) SABIC Research and Technology Center, Bengaluru for his encouragement and support. This work was completed as part of the project work in Speciality SBU from Bangalore in collaboration with Bergen Op Zoom, The Netherlands.