Luminescent Solar Concentrators Based on Renewable Polyester Matrices.

This study reports for the first time the use of bio-based alternatives for PMMA as host matrix for luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs). Notably, two types of renewable polyesters were synthesized in varying molar ratios via a two-step melt-polycondensation reaction with dibutyl tin oxide as catalyst. The first is a homopolymer of diethyl 2,3:4,5-di-O-methylene galactarate (GxMe) and isosorbide (IGPn), and the second is a random copolymer of GxMe with 1,3-propanediol and dimethyl terephthalate (GTPn). The two polyesters were found to be optically transparent, totally amorphous with a Tg higher than 45 °C and temperature resistance comparable to PMMA. Lumogen Red (LR) and an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) fluorophore, TPETPAFN, were utilized as fluorophores and the derived thin polymer films (25 µm) were found highly homogeneous, especially for those prepared from GTPn, possibly due to the presence of compatibilizing terephthalate units in the matrix composition and the higher molecular weight. The spectroscopic characterization and the optical efficiency determination (ηopt ) evidenced LSCs performances similar or superior to those collected from LR/PMMA thin films. Noteworthy, ηopt of 7.7 % and 7.1 % were recorded for the GTPn-based matrix containing LR and TPETPAFN, respectively, thus definitely supporting the bio-based polyesters as renewable and highly fluorophore-compatible matrices for high-performance LSCs.

Acetalised Galactarate Polyesters: Interplay between Chemical Structure and Polymerisation Kinetics.

In spite of the progress that has made so far in the recent years regarding the synthesis of bio-based polymers and in particular polyesters, only few references address the optimisation of these new reactions with respect to conversion and reaction time. Related to this aspect, we here describe the transesterification reaction of two different acetalised galactarate esters with a model aliphatic diol, 1,6-hexanediol. The kinetics of these two apparently similar reactions is compared, with a focus on the conversion while varying the concentration of a di-butyltin oxide catalyst (DBTO), respectively, the used N2 flow-rate. During the first stage of polymerisation, the molecular weight of the end-products is more than doubled when using a 250 mL/min flow as opposed to an almost static N2 pressure. Additionally, the resulted pre-polymers are subjected to further polycondensation and the comparison between the obtained polyesters is extended to their thermal, mechanical and dielectrical characterisation. The influence of the acetal groups on the stability of the polyesters in acidic conditions concludes the study.