Synthesis and characterization of biodegradable thermoplastic elastomers derived from N′,N-bis (2-carboxyethyl)-pyromellitimide, poly(butylene succinate) and polyethylene glycol

Biodegradable poly(ether-imide-ester) elastomers were synthesized from succinic acid, 1,4-butanediol, polyethylene glycol 1000 and N′,N-bis(2-carboxyethyl)- pyromellitimide which was derived from pyromellitic dianhydride and glycine. The chemical structures, crystallinities, thermal stabilities, mechanical properties, hydrophilicities and biodegradabilities of these elastomers were investigated. The hard segments of the linear aliphatic poly (ether-ester) exhibited monoclinic chain packing. Increasing the amount of aromatic bisimide moieties in the poly (ether-ester) reduced the crystallinity of the material and improved the thermal stability and tensile strength of the elastomers. In addition, introducing a suitable amount of aromatic bisimide moieties into the poly(ether-ester) backbones endowed the elastomers with improved biodegradability but too many aromatic bisimide groups reduced the biodegradability of the elastomers.