Synthesis and characterization of photo-crosslinkable copoly (carbonate-ester)s (PCE) derived from p-Hydroxy cinnamic acid (p-HCA) and bisphenol A (BPA)

A series of new copoly(carbonate-ester)s derived from p-hydroxy cinnamic acid (p-HCA) and 2,2-bis-(4-hydroxyphenyl) propane (Bisphenol A, BPA) was synthesized by an interfacial polymerization process. Films of these unsaturated copolymers were exposed to UV-light and sunlight to induce crosslinking. The resulting crosslinked films were insoluble in strong polycarbonate solvents such as dichloromethane and chloroform. The initial optical properties of the film are similar to bisphenol A polycarbonate (BPA-PC) and reduced on exposure to UV and sunlight with time. The Tg’s of copolymers are in the range of BPA-PC and thermal stability is lower than BPA-PC.

The chemical resistance and the dimensional stability of the crosslinked systems are expected to be superior to the ones from BPA-PC. Moreover, the double bond functionality in the p-HCA-containing resin could potentially be used to graft acrylates or other unsaturated monomers onto the copoly (carbonate ester)-backbone.