In this talk I share recent progress we have made with the application of poly(acrylated epoxidized high oleic soybean oil) (PAEHOSO) as a biobased and biodegradable impact modifier for polyesters. With proper modification, polyesters like poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) and poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) can serve as high performance engineering thermoplastics. To date, the most effective impact modifiers have been rubber-filled core-shell particles. While composites bearing these particles have excellent performance, the cost and sustainability are drawbacks, especially in materials like PLLA that are often chosen for their renewable carbon and biodegradability. PAEHOSO and related copolymers comprise a family of biobased and highly compostable thermoplastic rubbers from high oleic soybean oil. These polymers contain a rich variety of residual functionality—epoxy, vinyl, ester, and alcohol—that can be exploited in the extruder barrel to yield interface-stabilizing graft copolymers with a chemically complementary matrix component. By tuning the PAEHOSO architecture and compounding parameters, we can design extrudates with rubbery PAEHOSO micelles encapsulated by a robust interfacial region. These micelles effectively blunt crack propagation and dissipate energy through cavitation, increasing the impact strength by up to two orders of magnitude with minimal deterioration in modulus.

Highly compostable high oleic soy-based impact-modifiers via reactive extrusion with polyesters

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

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