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James A. Moore launched innovative
research in 1997 representing recycling at a fundamentally
efficient level: using waste cellulose such as by-products
left over in the paper-making process as a source of intermediates
to make polymers, copolymers and blends. Other cellulose-rich
sources include wood, sewage sludge, and food processing waste.
This research is funded in part by the NYS Energy Research
and Development Administration and by Biofine, a bioengineering
firm headquartered in Massachusetts.
Moore’s utilization of recycled materials normally routed
to the nearest landfill won a Presidential Green Chemistry
Challenge Award, presented last year by then-Vice President
Al Gore. The annual awards recognize outstanding chemical
technologies that incorporate green chemistry principles into
chemical design, manufacture, and use.
“Our research is economically driven in that we’re
finding use for a waste source, and right now paper plants
pay a fee to have it carted away to the dump, so they’re
willing to give it away for research,” said Moore. “Our
original project was to identify a niche market for the DPA,
and we’ve done that and gone beyond. Our research is
an open door from here on out.”
During Moore’s research,
materials derived from the monomer such as polycarbonate homo-
and co-polymers (with bis-phenol A, BPA) are prepared and
their properties studied. The influence of copolymer composition
on the thermal properties of these materials has been determined,
and the blends of polycarbonates from BPA and from DPA appear
to be compatible with each other. Soluble but highly branched
polyester can be prepared from bis-acetoxy DPA by a thermally
induced polycondensation interchange reaction with the elimination
of acetic acid. Extremely high apparent molecular weights
are attainable in this way.
The preparation of the t-butyl ester of
DPA enables the formation of homo- and co-polycarbonates in
which the blocking group can be removed to give free carboxyl
groups along the polymer backbone. Such materials exhibit
classic polyelectrolyte behavior. The sodium salt of the homo-polycarbonate
carboxylate is surprisingly stable to hydrolysis in alkaline
solutions. Neutralization of the carboxyl groups with polyvalent
counter ions leads to cross-linked gels. The carboxyl groups
can also serve as the locus for grafting reactions leading
to materials with unusual properties.
 Prof.
James A. Moore
Professor, Department of Chemistry
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
110 8th Street
Troy, NY 12180-3590
(518) 276-8481
moorej@rpi.edu
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