High Performance Polyhexahydrotriazine (PHT) Thermoset for the Synthesis of Furanics

Highly active, environmental friendly thermosets, polyhexahydrotriazines (PHTs) were prepared through the condensation of aromatic diamines and paraformaldehyde. The sulfonic acid-derived PHT possesses that both Brønsted base and acidic sites have been realized as a potential material in the dehydration of biomass (glucose/fructose) to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) at low temperature. This thermoset is degradable at high temperatures (> 80 °C) in the presence of aqueous solution of glucose/fructose with the generation of oxidized products of HMF and consequently produced furan-amine adducts. Moreover, the highly active PHT can be separated at lower temperatures (< 80 °C) with recyclability and found that its activity is declining after each cycle. This thermoset material can be used as an alternative to plastic material which is not degradable even thermally. In addition, PHTs were characterized successfully by various techniques such as PXRD, FT-IR, SEM, BET, and TGA analysis.