Lipase-catalyzed synthesis of poly(e-caprolactone) in supercritical carbon dioxide

Roseni D. Santos^a, Sibele R. Rosso Comim^a, Débora de Oliveira^a,  Helen Treichel^b, Marco Di Luccio^a, Sandra R.S. Ferreira^a, J. Vladimir Oliveira^a

 

                                                                                                                  

Abstract

In this study, the synthesis of poly(ε-caprolactone) by lipase-catalyzed reactions in supercritical carbon dioxide was performed in a batch reactor in order to evaluate the influence of the operating conditions on polymer chain size and on polydispersity index. Firstly, a fractional 2⁴⁻¹ factorial design was performed to evaluate the effect of temperature, concentration of enzyme, water content and agitation. Then, a full 2³experimental design was carried out to evaluate the effects of pressure, enzyme concentration and water content. The best result was a polymer chain size of 7419.6 g/gmol, obtained in a reaction conducted at 145 bar, 65 °C, 200 rpm, 10 wt% enzyme concentration and at the lowest water content.

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Keywords

• Polycaprolactone; Lipase; Carbon dioxide; Biopolymer