Impact of enzymatically synthesized aliphatic–aromatic polyesters with increased hydroxyl group content on coating properties

Nowadays, coating systems have to fulfill a wide range of requirements. In addition to mechanical properties such as hardness and elasticity, resistance and weatherability, specifically corrosion or chemical resistance are also important. Increasing attention is also being paid to points such as the use of sustainable reactants or the energy optimization of synthesis processes. 1 The use of enzymes in the synthetic processes offers two main advantages: firstly, reaction temperatures can be significantly reduced, for example in the production of polyesters, and as a result and a major advantage, certain functional groups can be selectively retained during the reaction. 2 , 3 Thus, for example, aromatic hydroxyl groups can be obtained, while aliphatic groups are esterified. 4 , 5 This allows the preparation of polyesters that do not only have terminal OH groups, but hydroxyl groups within the chain that can act as additional crosslinking points during network formation or as adhesion-promoting groups. 6 , 7 In this work, the influence of such an aliphatic–aromatic polyester, produced enzymatically at low temperatures, on the coating properties is investigated when using different hardener components. Coating formulations were created, and the required OH functionality and the hydroxyl number of the enzymatic polyester have been calculated by using two different, independent methods. Besides the development of guide formulations, the unique mechanical properties of coatings based on the enzymatic polyester were studied. In addition to comparative analysis of network densities, the coatings were also investigated by IR spectroscopy in order to assess the network formation reaction spectroscopically. It can be shown that additional OH groups in the polyester chain increase the network density, but this is not at the expense of elasticity. Thus, enzymatically produced polyesters combine the advantages of low reaction temperatures during production with a unique property profile due to aliphatic and aromatic moieties as well as the partial preservation of OH groups within the chain.