Tailoring the properties of bio-based polymers obtained from fatty acid derivatives.

GUILLERMINA CAPIEL; EMANUEL HERNÁNDEZ; MIRNA A. MOSIEWICKI; NORMA E. MARCOVICH

Encuentro; Encuentro de polímeros naturales-II EPNAT 2020; 2020

UNIARA ? USP ? UNESP ? UNIFESP ? UNICAMP

The obtaining of biomass derived materials with functional properties like shape memory, self-healing and reprocessability is attracting both great scientific and technological interest. These kinds of materials have a huge potential to be used in several applications ranging from food packaging to biomedical devices. Furthermore, their use may contribute to reduce the consuming of petrochemical supplies and the consequential waste generated after finishing their in-service life. We have been working in the synthesis of methacrylated fatty acid based precursors for the last few years. In particular, methacrylated oleic and lauric acids were copolymerized in cationic polymerizations with styrene and in free radical polymerizations with styrene and acrylated epoxidized soybean oil. Some of the resulting materials obtained by chain growth polymerization presented promising shape memory behavior and quite good stress relaxation behavior / thermal welding at relatively high temperature. As far as we know, this is the first time that bio-based cross-linked polymers synthesized by the traditional free radical polymerization route are proved as promising vitrimers without use of extrinsic catalysts.