The goal behind environmentally alternative research is to replace current fossil fuel-based products with more sustainable and renewable products, such as vegetable oil-based polymers. These bio-based polymers have received a lot of attention in the recent past due to their versatility and tunable properties, which can be easily achieved by adjusting the resin composition. The carbon-carbon double bonds in unsaturated oils make them ideal reactive sites for the chemical industry. Most vegetable oils must be modified before polymerization due to the low reactivity of their non-conjugated fatty acid chains. Tung oil (TO) contains ~83% of a triply conjugated fatty acid (α-eleostearic acid), making it an attractive starting material. Without the reinforcing role of fibers, such as cellulose, vegetable oil-based polymers do not have the thermo-mechanical properties to replace petroleum-based polymers. Compatibilizers, such as asolectin and maleic anhydride, have been utilized to increase the adhesion between resin and reinforcement, therefore enhancing the composites’ thermo-mechanical properties. In this project, the need for a compatilizer is eliminated through the preparation of a polar polymer matrix from the crosslinking of tung oil fatty acids with divinylbenzene and n-butyl methacrylate. It is shown that the polar regions of the fatty acid can interact directly with a polar filler, α-cellulose, through hydrogen bonding. The successful isolation of fatty acids from tung oil was checked by GC-MS, 1H NMR, Raman, and FT-IR spectroscopies. The polymerization of the resins was monitored by dielectric analysis (DEA) to obtain the optimal cure schedule. The final materials’ properties were analyzed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Similar composites prepared from tung oil methyl esters exhibit a lower binding affinity with cellulose when compared to the fatty acid composites, containing therefore more cracks and inferior thermo-mechanical properties.

α-Eleostearic acid extraction by saponification of tung oil and its subsequent polymerization

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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