Vitale Alessandra, Molina-Gutiérrez Samantha, Li W S Jennifer, Caillol Sylvain, Ladmiral Vincent, Lacroix-Desmazes Patrick, Dalle Vacche Sara
Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, Italy.
Research Unit, INSTM-Politecnico di Torino, 50121 Florence, Italy.
Materials (Basel). 2022 Jan 4;15(1):339. doi: 10.3390/ma15010339.
Biobased monomers and green processes are key to producing sustainable materials. Cardanol, an aromatic compound obtained from cashew nut shells, may be conveniently functionalized, e.g., with epoxy or (meth)acrylate groups, to replace petroleum-based monomers. Photoinduced polymerization is recognized as a sustainable process, less energy intensive than thermal curing; however, cardanol-based UV-cured polymers have relatively low thermomechanical properties, making them mostly suitable as reactive diluents or in non-structural applications such as coatings. It is therefore convenient to combine them with biobased reinforcements, such as microfibrillated cellulose (MFC), to obtain composites with good mechanical properties. In this work a cardanol-based methacrylate monomer was photopolymerized in the presence of MFC to yield self-standing, flexible, and relatively transparent films with high thermal stability. The polymerization process was completed within few minutes even in the presence of filler, and the cellulosic filler was not affected by the photopolymerization process.
生物基单体和绿色工艺是生产可持续材料的关键。腰果酚是一种从腰果壳中获得的芳香族化合物，可以方便地进行官能化，例如用环氧或（甲基）丙烯酸酯基团，以替代石油基单体。光引发聚合被认为是一种可持续的工艺，比热固化能耗更低；然而，基于腰果酚的紫外光固化聚合物的热机械性能相对较低，这使得它们大多适合用作反应性稀释剂或用于涂料等非结构应用。因此，将它们与生物基增强材料，如微纤化纤维素（MFC）结合，以获得具有良好机械性能的复合材料是很方便的。在这项工作中，一种基于腰果酚的甲基丙烯酸酯单体在MFC存在下进行光聚合，以产生具有高热稳定性的自立、柔性且相对透明的薄膜。即使在有填料的情况下，聚合过程也能在几分钟内完成，并且纤维素填料不受光聚合过程的影响。
