Solid-state polymerization and characterization of a copolyamide based on adipic acid, 1,4-butanediamine, and 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid

2,5-Furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is a promising biobased alternative material to terephthalic acid. In this study, three types of poly(butylene adipamide) (PA-4,6) containing 10, 20, and 30 mol % of poly(butylene-2,5-furandicarboxylamide) (PA-4,F) were synthesized through consecutive prepolymerization and solid-state polymerization (SSP). The incorporation of a 10 mol % PA-4,F component into PA-4,6 resulted in slight increases in the intrinsic viscosity (IV) and glass-transition temperature (T_g) after 12 h of SSP at 220°C. When the SSP temperature and reaction time increased, IV increased proportionally. The highest IV value of 0.75 was obtained by 48 h of SSP at 240°C, whereas increases in the PA-4,F content to 20 and 30 mol % gave rise to decreases in IV, T_g, and melting temperature; this interrupted the increase in SSP temperature. The thermal decomposition temperature of the PA-4,F-incorporated polyamide was lower than that with PA-4,6 because of the lower thermal stability of the FDCA component.