Bio-based sulfone copolymers free of bpa and bps

A bio-based sulfone copolymer b-PAES, comprising:

• a) recurring units (Ra) of formula (I):
• wherein:
• each R1 is independently selected from the group consisting of halogen, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, ether, thioether, carboxylic acid, ester, amide, imide, alkali or alkaline earth metal sulfonate, alkyl sulfonate, alkali or alkaline earth metal phosphonate, alkyl phosphonate, amine and quaternary ammonium;
• and
• j is zero or an integer of 1 to 4;
• each R2 is at each location independently selected from H or an alkyl having from 1 to 5 carbon atoms, preferably an alkyl having from 1 to 5 carbon atoms,
• each R2* is at each location independently selected from an alkyl having from 1 to 5 carbon atoms, and
• R3 is represented by a cycloalkyl having from 5 to 8 carbon atoms or —CRpRq—, wherein each of Rp and Rq is independently selected from H, an alkyl having from 1 to 10 carbon atoms, an aromatic mono- or polynuclear group, or a cycloalkyl having from 5 to 8 carbon atoms, said aromatic mono- or polynuclear group or cycloalkyl being optionally substituted by at least one alkyl having from 1 to 10 carbon atoms;
• b) recurring units (Rb) of formula (II) as shown below:
• wherein
• each R4 is independently selected from the group consisting of halogen, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, ether, thioether, carboxylic acid, ester, amide, imide, alkali or alkaline earth metal sulfonate, alkyl sulfonate, alkali or alkaline earth metal phosphonate, alkyl phosphonate, amine and quaternary ammonium;
• and
• i is zero or an integer of 1 to 4;
• and
• each of E, equal to or different from each other and at each occurrence, is selected from the group consisting of those of formulae (E′-I) to (E′-III):