Design of Polymer Materials with Lower Environmental Impact

In today?s world of emerging advanced materials, environmental impact of new technologies, as well as already well-established products, is of utmost importance. Environmental safety is as crucial as performance/price ratio for new materials. Talking specifically about polymer materials, research efforts are dedicated to enhancing material biodegradability, sustainability, manufacturing process improvements etc. It starts to become an industrial standard ? to eliminate solvents from polymer production routines, reduce number of chemicals, increase biobased content and generally move towards ?green synthesis? concept (use of renewable and/or reclaimed resources throughout whole production process). The main goal of this work was to develop novel polymers and polymer materials to have potentially lower environmental impact, including new biobased polymer materials with properties and performance not sacrificed by the presence of renewable content, and demonstrate the feasibility of new polymers in industrial applications. For the purpose of achieving the goal of this work, several approaches were attempted. The first approach lies in the development of a new polymer - poly[n-(tert-butylperoxymethyl) acrylamide-co-maleic anhydride], which combines the features of both initiator and surfactant (the inisurf), to be applied in conventional emulsion polymerization. Use of the inisurf allows for synthesis of novel, in-situ functionalized (peroxidized) latex particles, while reducing the number of chemicals involved in the process. Another focus of this work was on the development of biobased polymer materials, from plant oils as a raw source, which would be used to substitute petroleum-based polymers. For this, soybean based polymer surfactants (amphiphylic copolymers) were synthesized, and their potential to be applied as surfactant ingredients in shampoos was evaluated. In addition, synthesis of novel biobased monomers from sebacic (castor oil) and caprylic (coconut, palm oils) fatty acids ? dipropylene glycol acrylate caprylate and dipropylene glycol diacrylate sebacate is presented. Both monomers are shown to be applicable for development of thermosensitive latex particles for controlled encapsulation and release of fragrance in cosmetic products. Finally, a synthetic route for the fabrication of new soybean oil based acrylic monomer for free radical polymerization for making latexes for paints and adhesives is disclosed.North Dakota Soybean CouncilUnited Soybean Boar