One of the most important yet least appreciated benefits of bio-based sources for polymeric material is the ability to access new and unexpected combinations of high-performance properties due to the straightforward availability of a wider set of structural motifs than can be derived readily from petroleum-based starting materials. In the field of polycyanurate networks, we have taken advantage of these benefits to create new resins that exhibit exceptional fire resistance (using resveratrol as a source) or unexpectedly low moisture uptake (using lignin as a source). The exceptional physical properties of these networks have been established and traced to specific chemostructural features, such as extended conjugation or steric crowding effects. Not only the monomers themselves, but also structural analogs that help to establish the chemical basis for the observed physical properties, have been created thanks to investigations of bio-based materials.

New and unexpected properties from polycyanurate networks prepared from bio-based monomers

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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