Abstract
One of the desirable research goals today is to convert agro-based raw materials into low-cost functional polymers. Among the readily available natural raw materials are the fatty acids that can be obtained from the hydrolysis of plant oils or from the paper industry as byproducts. In this work, a novel iron-containing ionomer has been prepared through the reaction of fatty acids with steel dust or iron powder in the presence of carbon dioxide and water. Characterization has been achieved via 1H and 13C NMR, FT-IR, and size exclusion chromatography. The product has been shown to have an ionomeric structure, consisting of oligomers of fatty acid carboxylates (derived from Diels-Alder reaction) coupled with iron(II) and iron(III) ions (from the oxidation of iron). Because the fatty acid oligomers have low molecular weights, the ionomer easily dissolves in a solvent and can be made into different physical forms, such as liquid, solid, film, or foam.
Highlights
There is an intense interest in finding alternative sources of raw materials that are derived from renewable, sustainable sources rather than petroleum and other fossil fuels [1, 2]
As more iron and CO2 were added in samples A2 and A3, both Mn and Mw increased, indicating increasing polymerization of all the fatty acids
With the addition of more carbonated water in sample B2, both Mn and Mw increased, suggesting that most of the fatty acids participated in the polymerization
Summary
There is an intense interest in finding alternative sources of raw materials that are derived from renewable, sustainable sources rather than petroleum and other fossil fuels [1, 2]. One of the green chemistry approaches is to use agro-based plant oils or animal fats as raw materials for bio-based products [5,6,7]. A large number of papers have been published on the syntheses of polymers from oils and fats [8, 9]. The double bonds in triglycerides can be converted into epoxy groups, which can be polymerized [23, 24]. Efforts have been made to polymerize epoxidized fatty acid methyl ester [25]. Most of these publications involve triglycerides or their methyl esters. There has been relatively little effort in converting free fatty acids into polymers
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