Hybrid thermosets from vinyl ester resin and acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO)

The synthesis of polymers from renewable resources is a preferred research topic nowadays. This is due to the eco-friendly classification of the related polymers which contribute to environment sustainability and to diminution of global warming by replacement of petroleum-based resins. Plant oils, being unsaturated triglycerides, are very promising raw materials for the 'greening' of thermosets. This note especially holds for soybean oil which may be 'genetically engineered' for such polymer-related application. However, the double bonds along the fatty acid chain in the triglycerides, even if the unsaturation level in the compounds is high enough, are less reactive towards free radicalinduced crosslinking than those in terminal positions. This is the reason why a large body of works addressed the 'functionalization' of plant (vegetable) oils to support the free radical-caused crosslinking and co-crosslinking (with other comonomers) reactions (e.g. The related synthetic route starts usually with the epoxidation of the double bonds. Afterwards, these epoxy groups react with the carboxyl groups of selected acrylic acids. The resulting Hybrid thermosets from vinyl ester resin and acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO)