New bio‐based epoxy materials and foams from microalgal oil

Abstract

Microalgae are a potential source of renewable energy but could also interesting lead to a platform for oleochemicals. Hence, the oil obtained from Schizochytrium microalgae, with a high content in unsaturations, was dedicated to the synthesis of polymer materials. After the determination of its structure, algal oil was epoxidized in presence of exchange cation resin to reach a high functionality of ten epoxy functions per molecule. Then, fully bio‐based epoxy networks were synthesized with priamine® (oleic acid dimer‐derived amine) as hardener. These new algal epoxy materials were characterized and compared with vegetable oils derived epoxy networks (linseed or soybean oils). Epoxy co‐monomers were added to the formulation in order to improve the material properties. We added both trimethylolpropane triglycidyl ether, a classical crosslinking agent, and triepoxided phloroglucinol, derived from algal phlorotannins. The addition epoxy co‐monomers allowed to obtain materials with various properties. The thermal and mechanical properties highlighted the interesting superiority of algal oils with their high content in reactive functions. Finally, the addition of a blowing agent (MH15 polysiloxane) led to the synthesis of algal oils derived foams with interesting properties. Thus, algal oil demonstrated interesting potential as a viable starting material for fully bio‐based thermosetting materials and foams. Practical applications: The main reactant described in this article, that is, epoxidized algal oil (EAO), provides bio‐based aliphatic building blocks for further epoxy foams syntheses by reaction with vegetable oil derived amines and another aromatic epoxy co‐monomer. The obtained epoxy materials and foams are bio‐based with various rigidities and high cross‐linking ratio. Materials may be used in electronics and electrical systems or for high‐performance adhesives. Foams may be applied as thermal and vibration isolation and for the production of lightweight materials or the transportation industry such as aircraft‐interior panels and crash pads. For the more flexible foams, medical applications could be considered.

Properties of Coated Controlled Release Diammonium Phosphate Fertilizers Prepared with the Use of Bio‐based Amino Oil

“…The synthesis of biobased diamine from vegetable oils was reported (Froidevaux et al, 2016). Fully biobased dimer diamines are commercially available building block (Priamine) and are suitable as hardeners for the synthesis of various biobased polymers (Dworakowska et al, 2015;Ecochard et al, 2019;Negrell et al, 2017). However, the fully or partially biobased PU, and polyepoxide coatings for SRF prepared from vegetable oils are expensive and need multistep of organics processes (modification of the vegetables oil, polymerization…), and also use organic solvents.…”

Properties of biobased epoxy resins from epoxidized linseed oil (ELO) crosslinked with a mixture of cyclic anhydride and maleinized linseed oil

“…It is possible to obtain biobased epoxy resins with different approaches. In the last years, many investigations have been developed and characterized in the field of epoxy resins from vegetable oils such as epoxidized linseed oil (ELO) [13][14][15][16][17], modified soybean oil [15,16,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24] and other less known oils such as those derived from microalgal oil [25], jatropha oil [26], 407 Properties of biobased epoxy resins from epoxidized linseed oil (ELO) crosslinked with a mixture of cyclic anhydride and maleinized linseed oil M. D. Samper * , J. M. Ferri, A. Carbonell-Verdu, R. Balart, O. Fenollar Instituto de Tecnología de Materiales (ITM), Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), Plaza Ferrándiz y Carbonell 1, 03801 Alcoy (Alicante), Spain karanja oil [27], tung oil [28], cottonseed oil [29] or hemp oil [30].…”

Novel Bio-Based Epoxy Thermosets Based on Triglycidyl Phloroglucinol Prepared by Thiol-Epoxy Reaction

“…The triglycidyl derivative from phloroglucinol was synthesized by reacting the phenolic compound with a large excess of epichlorohydrin in the presence of a transfer catalyst, as it was previously reported [22]. After that, the treatment in alkaline medium helps to cyclize the formed chlorohydrine intermediates (Scheme 1).…”

“…The most important application of this compound is in the pharmaceutical industry because it has excellent antispasmodic properties [20,21]. Due to its great biocompatibility and good chemical characteristics, this aromatic compound could also be used as feedstock for the preparation of epoxy thermosets with excellent final properties [22].…”