Microphase separation: enabling isosorbide-based polycarbonates with improved property profile

Microphase separation of bio-based soft blocks in a hard isosorbide polycarbonate enabled the preparation of a transparent bio-based engineering plastic with improved mechanical properties and processability at milder conditions. The ability to process these isosorbide-containing polycarbonates at lower temperatures in combination with a lower polymerization temperature due to the use of the activated bis(methyl salicyl) carbonate as the carbonate source avoided the undesired elimination of β-hydrogens, which is commonly observed in isosorbide-containing polymers. Preparation of a wide range of custom samples with varying combinations of soft blocks, followed by characterization and statistical analysis, enabled the identification of the correlations between composition and mechanical and thermal properties, resulting in an optimized engineering plastic with facile processing, transparency, and ductility combined with >84% renewable content.