Novel Biobased Epoxy Thermosets and Coatings from Poly(limonene carbonate) Oxide and Synthetic Hardeners

Vitor Bonamigo Moreira; Jeroen Rintjema; Fernando Bravo; Arjan W Kleij; Lourdes Franco; Jordi Puiggalí; Carlos Alemán; Elaine Armelin

doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c07665

Novel Biobased Epoxy Thermosets and Coatings from Poly(limonene carbonate) Oxide and Synthetic Hardeners

ACS Sustain Chem Eng. 2022 Feb 28;10(8):2708-2719. doi: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c07665. Epub 2022 Feb 18.

Authors

Vitor Bonamigo Moreira^{1

2

3}, Jeroen Rintjema⁴, Fernando Bravo⁴, Arjan W Kleij^{4

5}, Lourdes Franco^{1

3}, Jordi Puiggalí^{1

3}, Carlos Alemán^{1

3

6}, Elaine Armelin^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Campus Diagonal Besòs (EEBE), C/Eduard Maristany, 10-14, Building I, 2nd Floor, 08019 Barcelona, Spain.
² Programa de Pós-graduação em Engenharias de Minas, Metalúrgica e de Materiais (PPGE3M), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9500, Porto Alegre, 91501-970 Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
³ Barcelona Research Center for Multiscale Science and Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Campus Diagonal Besòs (EEBE), C/Eduard Maristany, 10-14, Building I, Basement Floor, 08019 Barcelona, Spain.
⁴ Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Av. Països Catalans 16, 43007 Tarragona, Spain.
⁵ Catalan Institute of Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Pg. Lluis Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain.
⁶ Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac 10-12, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.

Abstract

In the area of coating development, it is extremely difficult to find a substitute for bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (DGEBA), the classical petroleum-based raw material used for the formulation of epoxy thermosets. This epoxy resin offers fast curing reaction with several hardeners and the best thermal and chemical resistance properties for applications in coatings and adhesive technologies. In this work, a new biobased epoxy, derived from poly(limonene carbonate) oxide (PLCO), was combined with polyetheramine and polyamineamide curing agents, offering a spectrum of thermal and mechanical properties, superior to DGEBA-based thermosets. The best formulation was found to be a combination of PLCO and a commercial curing agent (Jeffamine) in a stoichiometric 1:1 ratio. Although PLCO is a solid due to its high molecular weight, it was possible to create a two-component partially biobased epoxy paint without the need of volatile organic compounds (i.e., solvent-free formulation), intended for use in coating technology to partially replace DGEBA-based thermosets.