The synthesis and properties of binary acrylate oligomer mixtures and their blends with different soybean oil contents

Abstract

Two kinds of curable acrylate oligomer mixtures were used for films obtained by thermal polymerization of multiacrylates group. Then, a series of soybean oil (SO) blends were prepared by inclusion of high content (up to 50 wt %) of the SO into the polymer network. A polyurethane oligomer with multifunctional acrylate endcaps (from pentaerythritol triacrylate) was used as a base component for the curable blends. Two of the blend components are biosourced oligomers, namely acrylated epoxidized SO (AESO) and SO. The effects of the acrylate oligomers ratio and of the SO content on the cross-linked polyurethane acrylate (PUA) matrix were studied by evaluating various properties of the films such as thermal behavior, tensile properties, and surface properties. The glass transition temperatures ( Tg) increased by increasing the content (from 10% to 50%) of AESO from −41°C to −16°C. The hydrophobic properties of the films surface significantly increased with the AESO content and slightly decreased with the SO content. These blends provide new environment-friendly formulations for cross-linked PUA matrices.