Author
Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 3/6/2011 Publication Date: 3/6/2011 Citation: Liu, Z. 2011. Green materials prepared by using a green processing method: Plant oil-based polymers prepared in CO2 medium with mild conditions [abstract]. 2nd International Conference on Multifunctional, Hybrid and Nanomaterials. Addendum p. A1.5.1:2. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Recent efforts have been focused on the development of environmentally friendly replacements for volatile organic solvents. One promising candidate is supercritical carbon dioxide because of its low toxicity and no solvent residues in the final products. Renewed interest in biodegradable polymeric materials has encouraged the development of such materials from renewable resources. Among synthesized bio-based products from agricultural resources, plant oils are useful raw materials in the synthesis of polymers. In this work, we report the Lewis acid catalyzed ring-opening polymerization of epoxidized plant oils such as epoxidized soybean oil in liquid carbon dioxide at room temperature in effort to develop useful biodegradable polymers. The resulting polymers were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, solid state 13C NMR spectroscopes, and gel permeation chromatography. |