Abstract
Rosin is an abundantly available natural product. In this paper, for the first time, a rosin derivative is employed as the main monomer for preparation of epoxy vitrimers to improve the mechanical properties of vitrimers. Novel epoxy vitrimer networks with dynamic reversible covalent boronic ester bonds are constructed by a reaction between thiols in 2,2′–(1,4–phenylene)–bis (4–mercaptan–1,3,2–dioxaborolane) (BDB) as a curing agent and epoxy groups in the rosin derivative. The rosin-based epoxy vitrimer networks are fully characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), an equilibrium swelling experiment, and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The obtained rosin-based epoxy vitrimers possess superior thermostability and good mechanical properties. Due to transesterification of boronic ester bonds, rosin epoxy vitrimer network topologies can be altered, giving welding, recycle, self-healing, and shape memory abilities to the fabricated polymer. Besides, the effects of treating time and temperature on welding capability is investigated, and it is found that the welding efficiency of the 20% C-FPAE sample is >93% after treatment for 12 h at 160 °C. Moreover, through a hot press, the pulverized samples of 20% C-FPAE can be reshaped several times and most mechanical properties are restored after reprocessing at 200 °C for 60 min. Finally, chemical degradation is researched for the rosin-based epoxy vitrimers.
Highlights
Thermosetting polymers that originate from petroleum chemicals have been involved in many industrial applications, such as protective coatings, wind turbines, highperformance materials for aircrafts, and other areas, because of their dimensional stability, mechanical properties, and creep/chemical resistance [1]
We studied the fabrication of high-performance vitrimers using rosin resources, for vitrimers naturally have multifunctionality, such as self-healing, shape memory, and reprocessing
Boronic ester-containing C-FPAE networks were fabricated based on the chemical reaction between thiols of BDB and the epoxy groups of FPAE, with BDB as a curing agent
Summary
Thermosetting polymers that originate from petroleum chemicals have been involved in many industrial applications, such as protective coatings, wind turbines, highperformance materials for aircrafts, and other areas, because of their dimensional stability, mechanical properties, and creep/chemical resistance [1]. The inherent irreversible cross-linking naturally restricts their flow and they cannot be reshaped, reprocessed, or recycled, leading to an aggravating petroleum resource crisis. To address this issue, dynamic covalent bonds can be incorporated into the thermoset polymer network, giving it the unique features, such as malleability, self-healing, and reprocessing properties. A network of vitrimers can change their topologies without decreasing their connectivity, attributed to associative exchange reactions, which maintain constant the number of chemical bonds and cross-links. Vitrimers can flow when a stimulus is applied, because associative exchange reactions permit the network topology to fluctuate; the kinetics change can control the relaxation dynamics and viscosity of vitrimers [3,4]. Improvements in vitrimer mechanical performance are achieved at the expense of dynamic properties due to restricted chain mobility, and it is a challenge to enhance both mechanical performance and dynamic properties
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