To explore the non-petroleum route for carbon dioxide copolymers

furfuryl glycidyl ether oxirane with 99.7% purity was prepared from furfuryl alcohol and epichlorohydrin employing sodium hydroxide and tert-butylammonium sulfate as catalysts

where furfuryl alcohol was a hydrogenation product of furfural from pentoserich agricultural residues like rice hulls

bagasse

corn cob

et al.

and epichlorohydrin could be produced from glycerine which was a byproduct in biodiesel production.Copolymerization of carbon dioxide and furfuryl glycidyl ether was carried out in a 500 mL autoclave with carbon dioxide pressure of 4 MPa at elevated temperatures

using Y(CCl3COO)3glycerine ZnEt2 coordination catalyst and 1

4-dioxane as solvent.Aliphatic polycarbonate with pendant furfuryl methyl ether was obtained with number average molecular weight as high as 13.0×104.The glass transition temperature (Tg) of the resultant copolymer was around -30℃

which was 65℃ lower than that of poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC)

providing possibility for solving the brittleness of PPC

and the application window of PPC was therefore enlarged to lower temperature range.Compared with common PPC

this new polycarbonate showed significant improvement in thermal stability

the onset thermal degradation temperature (Td) of the copolymer was 231℃

approximately 60℃ higher than that of PPC.