Hydroxylated oligoamides from renewable resources: their synthesis on TiO2 nanoparticles

Hydroxylated oligoamides have been synthesized in order to obtain water soluble compounds with a high affinity for polar materials as wood, paper and natural fibres. Renewable resources have been used as starting compounds. In particular natural compounds or their derivatives, as tartaric acid, D(+)-glucaric acid and α,α-trehaluronic acid, have been used as diacids in the polycondensation reactions. Recently products with different molecular weight and different hydrophilic/hydrofobic ratio have been obtained using several diamines or polyamines . In order to obtain polymeric formulations containing nanoparticles, the same oligoamides have been synthesised on TiO2 nanoparticles. In fact a homogeneous dispersion of nanoparticles, without the presence of agglomerates or aggregates, is indispensable in order to obtain high-performance polymer-based nanocomposites. Generally an appropriate functionalization of nanomaterials can be used for a better inclusion of the nanoparticles in the polymeric films. For this purpose hydroxylated oligoamides have been synthesized also on TiO2 anatase nanoparticles. In fact the consequent bactericide properties are an important topic for wood conservation or textile applications. The nanoparticles have been functionalized with (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane or [3-(2-aminoethylamino)propyl]-trimethoxysilane, then the polycondensation reactions between functionalized nanoparticles, dimethyl esters and different diamines have been carried out allowing the growth of the polymer in controlled steps. All the compounds obtained in this study have been characterized through FT-IR, 1H, 13C NMR spectroscopy and through 2D NMR techniques (gCOSY, gHSQC). Preliminary characterizations of the obtained films have been also attempted.