SusChEM: Sustainable Epoxy Materials From Vegetable Oils and Terpenes

技术概述：该项目将发展可再生环氧材料的物理特性基础知识。特别是，本研究旨在提高对如何使用铵盐光引发剂控制交联环氧化植物油和萜烯衍生的可持续环氧材料的力学、粘弹性和热性能的认识和理解。本研究项目建立在可再生资源的环氧化单体可以作为可持续光固化单体的前提下，这些单体可以通过放热开环阳离子聚合进行快速交联。三种生物源底物——脂类、萜烯和天然橡胶——是根据它们在环氧化和光固化研究中以合理的价格大量可用的标准专门选择的。拟议的项目代表了可持续环氧材料研究的新方向，将研究重点放在通过控制交联密度和包含橡胶或玻璃段来定制其物理性能上。具体而言，将进行以下研究任务：(1)交联环氧化植物油（evo）的力学和热性能；(2)与环氧萜共混以提高交联密度；(3)与部分环氧化天然橡胶共混以降低交联密度。这种环氧单体共混和共聚策略将通过操纵与萜烯和/或天然橡胶衍生的环氧化单体的evo的交联和相分离动力学，生产出含有橡胶或玻璃结构域的新型可持续热固性材料。预计这项研究将增强定制可持续环氧材料物理性能的能力，最终可能与石油衍生环氧材料相当，甚至可能更好。非技术总结：聚合物材料研究面临的挑战是通过从丰富和经济的可再生资源中开发可持续的塑料材料来减轻我们对石油衍生单体和聚合物的依赖。将研究一系列新的生物可再生环氧单体，以减轻我们在涂料、粘合剂、喷墨印刷和复合材料方面对石油的依赖。由于所提出的聚合是廉价的，快速的，无溶剂的，可以很容易地在环境条件下进行，这项技术可以很容易地转移到大规模的工业环境。我们的教育活动将覆盖广泛而多样化的学生（K-12，本科生和研究生）。该基金资助的研究生和本科生将获得有关新型环氧材料的设计、合成、性能和应用的广泛知识，并获得多学科培训，以促进学术界与工业界的互动。这些学生还将积极参与广泛传播他们的知识，通过K-12的外展活动，包括基于网络的科学和环境项目、开放日活动以及在当地小学和其他地方的动手演示。pi和学生还将参加伦斯勒大学的可持续发展研究项目。

TECHNICAL SUMMARY:This project will develop fundamental knowledge of physical properties for sustainable epoxy materials from renewable resources. In particular, this research is aimed at advancing the knowledge and understanding of how to control the mechanical, viscoelastic and thermal properties of sustainable epoxy materials derived from crosslinked epoxidized vegetable oils and terpenes using onium salt photoinitiators. This research program is built on the premise that epoxidized monomers from renewable resources can serve as sustainable photocurable monomers that are designed to undergo facile and rapid crosslinking via exothermic ring-opening cationic polymerization. Three classes of biosourced substrates -- lipids, terpenes and natural rubbers -- are specifically selected based on the criteria that they are abundantly available at reasonable prices for the epoxidation and photocuring studies. The proposed projects represent a new direction of sustainable epoxy material research to focus the research efforts in tailoring their physical properties via the control of the crosslinking densities and the inclusion of rubbery or glassy segments. Specifically, the following research tasks will be conducted: (1) Mechanical and thermal properties of crosslinked epoxidized vegetable oils (EVOs), (2) Blending EVOs with epoxidized terpenes toward higher crosslink density, and (3) Blending EVOs with partially epoxidized natural rubbers toward lower crosslink density. This epoxy monomer blending and copolymerization strategy will produce new sustainable thermosets with inclusion of rubbery or glassy domains by manipulating the crosslinking and phase separation kinetics using EVOs with terpene- and/or natural rubber-derived epoxidized monomers. It is envisioned that this study will enhance the capability to tailor the physical properties of sustainable epoxy materials that may end up being comparable to, or potentially even better than, petroleum-derived epoxy materials.NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:Polymer materials research faces the challenge of relieving our dependence on petroleum-derived monomers and polymers by developing sustainable plastic materials from abundant and economical renewable resources. A spectrum of new biorenewable epoxy monomers will be studied to relieve our dependence on petroleum for use in coatings, adhesives, ink-jet printing and composites. Because the proposed polymerization is inexpensive, rapid, solventless and can be readily carried out under ambient conditions, this technology could easily be transferred to large-scale industrial settings. Our education activities will reach a broad and diverse range of students (K-12, undergraduate and graduate). The graduate and undergraduate students supported by this grant will acquire extensive knowledge of the design, synthesis, properties and application of novel epoxy materials from renewable resources and gain multidisciplinary training to promote academia-industry interactions. These students will also actively participate in the broad dissemination of their knowledge through K-12 outreach activities including web-based programs on science and the environment, open houses, and hands-on demos at local elementary schools and elsewhere. The PIs and students will also participate in the Sustainability Studies Program at Rensselaer.