Biobased Cationically Polymerizable Epoxy Thermosets from Furan and Fatty Acid Derivatives

In the pursuit of environmentally friendly building blocks in polymer chemistry the utilization of biobased monomers is highly desired. In the present study, the biobased monomer 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) has been extended into epoxy thermosets. The study presents the synthesis of diallyl furan-2,5-dicarboxylate (DAFDC) followed by an epoxidation of the allyls to form diglycidyl furan-2,5-dicarboxylate (DGFDC).

DGFDC was then copolymerized in both stoichiometric and off-stoichiometric ratios with epoxidized fatty methyl esters to form a range of thermosets. The cross-linking reaction was either thermally or UV-induced cationic polymerization utilizing onium salt initiators where the reactivity was studied by DSC and real-time fourier transform infrared analysis.

Furthermore, the structure–property relationships of the final thermosets were determined by dynamic mechanical thermal analysis revealing a possibility to tune the properties over a wide range. In addition thermosets were made from diglycidyl Bisphenol-A (DGEBA) with epoxidized fatty methyl esters made for comparative purposes.