To improve the crystalline and mechanical properties of bio-based polyester materials, highly symmetrical nipagin-derived dimethyl ester is used for the synthesis of polyesters. Aromatic copolyesters, PDN21-xE1x and PDN21-xE2x (x = 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%), with high crystallinity are synthesized from biobased 1,10-decanediol, nipagin and eugenol-derived dimethyl esters via a random copolymerization method. The crystallizability of the copolyesters is emphatically investigated by the content of the two asymmetrical eugenol-derived compositions (i.e. E1 and E2). Not only the appearance of the copolyesters, which present a white powder consistently, but also differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WXRD) and isothermal crystallization analyses verify the strong crystallizability of the copolyesters despite the fact that the crystallinity (Xc), melting point (Tm) and corresponding enthalpy (ΔHm) are found to gradually decrease with the increase in the eugenol-based composition. Furthermore, the tensile assays demonstrate brittle characteristics of the copolyesters and further confirm the strong crystallizability of the nipagin-based PDN2, a potential candidate for replacement of the petroleum-based polyethylene (butylene) terephthalate (PET, PBT).
