Research & Reviews: Journal of Chemistry
Menue-ISSN: 2319-9849
e-ISSN: 2319-9849
Alexandrina Nan
Babes-Bolyai University, Romania
ScientificTracks Abstracts: Research & Reviews: Journal of Chemistry
Poly(hydroxy acids) are polyesters that are obtained using hydroxy acids as the starting materials, which are derived from renewable resources and biowaste. They have gained tremendous attention, due to the increasing environmental pressure on global warming and plastic pollution. In the last years, enzymatic polymerization has dramatically developed and provided many successful examples in constructing functional polymeric materials. The main reason for utilizing enzymatic reactions is that organic synthesis technology didn�t progress enough to control the stereochemistry and regioselectivity of the products, which are often necessary as a key intermediate for the total synthesis of complicated natural molecules for pharmacologically active products [1-3]. This work aims to acquire new polymers with a well-ordered structure and, hence, high thermal conductivity values. Typical methods for improving polymer thermal conductivity have often focused on composite materials, in which additives such as metallic nanoparticles or carbon nanotubes are embedded in polymer matrices [4-6]. However, the alignment of polymer chains can result in a significant enhancement of the mechanical strength and thermal conductivity of polymers [7,8]. In our work, we will illustrate the difference between two neoteric poly(hydroxy acids) structures, namely polytartaric acid and poly(tartronic-co-glycolic acid), respectively obtained under the thermal polycondensation versus enzymatic conditions and the impact on their thermal conductivity values. The polymers were structurally investigated by solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, FTIR spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry. The thermal conductivities of the as-prepared poly(hydroxy acids) and its derivatives are measured by the transient plane source technique, also referred to as the Hot Disk method. The thermal conductivity values measured at different temperatures will be also discussed in relation to the structure.
Senior Researcher at the National Institute for Research and Development of Isotopic and Molecular Technologies, Cluj-Napoca. Researcher at the Institute mentioned above in the field of magnetic nanostructures.