Decomposition mechanism of polyesters based on 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid and aliphatic diols with medium and long chain methylene groups

Three different polyesters have been synthesized using 2,5-dimethylfuran dicarboxylate (DMFD) and diols with 5, 6 and 9 methylene groups, namely poly(pentylene 2,5-furanoate) (PPeF), poly(hexylene 2,5-furanoate) (PHF) and poly(nonylene 2,5-furanoate) (PNF), respectively. These polyesters that can be prepared from monomers derived from renewable resources were synthesized by melt polycondensation technique. Their structure was confirmed by 1H NMR spectroscopy. Thermal stability of polyesters was investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and their decomposition mechanism was evaluated with Pyrolysis-Gas chromatography/Mass spectroscopy (Py-GC/MS). It was found that all polyesters decompose with a similar way and decomposition takes place mainly via β-hydrogen bond scission and less extensive with homolytic scission.