Location: Bio-oils Research Unit
Title: Polymerization of euphorbia oil in carbon dioxide media Author
Submitted to: Annual Meeting and Expo of the American Oil Chemists' Society
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: November 15, 2011
Publication Date: April 29, 2012
Citation: Liu, Z. 2012. Polymerization of euphorbia oil in carbon dioxide media [abstract]. Annual Meeting and Expo of the American Oil Chemists' Society. p. 4. Technical Abstract: Boron trifluoride diethyl etherate (BF3•OEt2), Lewis acid, catalyzed ring-opening polymerization of euphorbia oil (EO), a natural epoxy oil, was conducted in carbon dioxide. The resulting polymers (RPEO) were characterized by FTIR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, solid state 13C-NMR spectroscopies, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The results indicated that the ring-opening polymerization of EO occurred under mild conditions, such as at room temperature, and a subcritical carbon dioxide (CO2) pressure of 65.5 bar. The formed RPEO materials were cross-linked polymers. The glass transition temperatures of these polymers ranged from -15.0 to -22.7 deg. C. TGA results showed that the RPEO polymers were thermally stable at temperatures lower than 220 deg. and significant decomposition that mainly occurred above 340 deg. C.