Synthesis and characterization of a novel bio-based reactive diluent as a styrene replacement

Recent years has seen a shift towards the use of composite materials in a number of applications due to their improved attributes when compared to traditional building materials. Vinyl ester and unsaturated polyester resins require the use of reactive diluents, such as styrene and methyl methacrylate, for liquid molding manufacture of composites. However, these diluents are hazardous air pollutants (HAP) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) and are emitted during every phase of production. This work focuses on the formulation of a novel bio-based reactive diluents for vinyl ester resins in an effort to reduce emissions while maintaining the properties of styrene-based systems. A novel furanic reactive diluent, furoic acid glycidyl methacrylate (FA-GM), was synthesized from bio-based starting materials and then blended with a vinyl ester cross-linker in order to study the potential as a styrene replacement. VE resin blends using FA-GM and another furanic reactive diluent were found to have higher viscosities (4-234 cP) and lower glass transition temperatures (82-100 °C) relative to styrene-based vinyl esters.