A facile approach to thermomechanically enhanced fatty acid-containing bioplastics using metal-ligand coordination

Biomass-based polymers show promise for the mitigation of environmental issues associated with petroleum-derived commodity polymers; however, due to poor entanglement, many of these polymers typically lack mechanical strength and toughness. Herein, we report a facile approach to utilizing metal-ligand coordination to create physical crosslinking, and thus chain entanglements for plant oil-derived polymers. A series of soybean oil-derived copolymers containing a pendant acid group can be easily synthesized using free radical polymerization. The resulting chain architecture can be controlled through supramolecular interactions to produce bioplastics with enhanced thermomechanical properties. The metal-ligand coordination in this work can be varied by changing the metal lability and the density of metal-ligand bonds, allowing for further control of properties. The final bioplastics remain reprocessable and feature good thermoplastic and stimuli-responsive properties.