Synthesis and characterization of novel biodegradable copolyesters by transreaction of poly(ethylene terephthalate) with copoly(succinic anhydride/ethylene oxide)

Poly(ethylene terephthalate)/copoly(succinic anhydride/ethylene oxide) copolymers, (PET/PES copolymers) were synthesized by the transreaction between PET and PES and characterized with GPC, 1H NMR, and DSC. Most of the copolymers obtained were random copolymers. The films cast of these copolymers were transparent. The thermal, mechanical properties, and biodegradability of the copolymers obtained were studied with respect to the composition and lengths of aliphatic and aromatic units in the copolymers. In the copolymers having high PET content, the melting points, due to the PET segment, were observed by DSC measurement, although the fusion heats of the copolymers were small. The enzymatic hydrolyzability by a lipase from Rhizopus arrhizus and biodegradability by activated sludge of the copolymers decreased with an increase in PET content. When the length of succinic acid unit in the copolymer was below 2, the hydrolyzability of the copolymers decreased considerably. The tensile strengths of the cast films prepared from the copolymers synthesized by the transreaction increased with an increase in PET content, whereas, the elongations at break decreased. Their tensile strengths were half, and the elongations were double compared to those of PET homopolymer film. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 4478–4489, 2000