Synthesis of Polyethylene Glycol-9,10-dihydroxy Monostearate as Palm Oil-Based Polyol and Its Application on the Preparation of Polylactic acid/Polyurethane Block Copolymer

Palm oil-based polyol from polyethylene glycol-9,10-dihydroxy monostearate has been synthesized to prepare polylactic acid/polyurethane block copolymer via a two-step reaction. Step one is the esterification of oleic acid and polyethylene glycol 400 to produce polyethylene glycol monooleate. The second step is the epoxidation and hydroxylation of polyethylene glycol monooleate to produce polyethylene glycol-9,10-dihydroxy monostearate. Furthermore, the synthesized was used as the raw material for the synthesis of polyurethane prepolymer by reacting with methylene diphenyl diisocyanate in the presence of dibutyltin dilaurate as the catalyst. The prepolymer obtained then reacted with polylactic acid to produce block copolymer.The characterizations of block copolymer were conducted by Fourier transforms infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetry analysis. The isocyanate conversion of block copolymer was 89.3%. This indicated that prepolymer has reacted with polylactic acid to produce block copolymer.