Renewable Feedstocks Towards a Sustainable Future for Polymers

Abstract

Biomass has tremendous potential to serve as a sustainable replacement for the limited resources we currently exploit to manufacture polymeric materials. Identifying and testing novel, renewable feedstocks for polymer synthesis is a grand challenge which the topic of this thesis aims to address. The first area of research focuses on utilizing fatty acid derivatives and bio-derivable triacetic acid lactone to produce new acrylic triblock copolymers for pressure-sensitive adhesives. The findings reveal that it is possible to utilize renewable, long-chained alkyl-acrylates with high Me to create useful elastomers. The second area of reach explores the ring opening polymerizations of di-substituted valerolactones derived from triacetic acid lactone. The findings provide valuable insights towards the thermodynamics and kinetics of polymerization of substituted valerolactones. Finally, the third area of research details the synthesis of novel anhydride-like monomers obtained from bio-derived itaconic acid. The monomers were polymerized via photoinitiated thiol-ene chemistry to obtain thermosets that were found to be degradable in aqueous environments.