Biofiber-reinforced acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO) biocomposites

Abstract

Soybean oil presents an abundant material based on renewable resources and displays the potential to be utilized in production of polymer composites. The chemical functionalities present in the triglyceride structure of soybean oil allow conversion to various promising monomers including acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO). By blending with commonly used comonomers, it is possible to manufacture polymers using state-of-the-art techniques from AESO. AESO-based polymers possess Young’s moduli ranging from 1 to 2 GPa and glass transition temperature, Tg, varying between 70 and 120 °C. The mechanical and thermal properties heavily depend on comonomer content. AESO-based polymers show viscoelastic behavior with a broad transition region from glassy to rubbery behaviors. Properties of AESO-based polymers can be further enhanced by reinforcement with natural fibers and even more with glass fiber. By incorporation of natural fibers to produce 100% renewable-resource material, the elastic modulus, tensile strength, flexural modulus, and flexural strength have been raised to 9.7 GPa, 128 MPa, 9 GPa, and 205 MPa, respectively. © 2017 Scrivener Publishing LLC.