Weishan Tang, Xin Feng, Caiyun Lin, Xiaoping Rao^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.11, No.2, pp. 523-538, 2023, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.022809

Abstract Environment friendly and intelligent surfactants have attracted great attention in recent years. A bio-based CO₂ responsive surfactant rosin acid dimaleimide choline (R-BMI-C) with an extremely rigid skeleton was prepared using rosin and choline as raw materials by Diels-Alder addition reaction and acid-base neutralization reactions. Its structure was confirmed by IR and ¹H NMR spectra. The foams’ properties of R-BMI-C could be adjusted by bubbling CO₂/N₂ to change the structure of the surfactant. At pH 10.4, R-BMI-C forms an unstable foam with a half-life of 1.5 h. When the pH was reduced to 7.4 by bubbling CO₂, R-BMI-C forms an extremely… More > Graphic Abstract

Ying Xia¹, Rafael L. Quirino², Richard C. Larock^3,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.1, No.1, pp. 3-27, 2013, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2012.634103

Abstract Vegetable oils are promising renewable resources for polymers, due to their low cost, ready availability, and versatile applications. Recently, increasing attention has been paid to vegetable oil-based polymeric materials due to both economic and environmental concerns. This review focuses on the latest developments in vegetable oil-based thermosets prepared by a variety of polymerization methods. The thermosets obtained exhibit a wide range of thermomechanical properties from soft and fl exible rubbers to rigid and hard plastics. Some of the thermosets have properties comparable to petroleum-based analogs and show promise as replacements, providing possible solutions to environmental and energy concerns. More >

Thomas J. Nelson, Lindsey Bultema, Neal Eidenschink, Dean C. Webster^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.1, No.2, pp. 141-153, 2013, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2013.634113

Abstract Bio-based polyols with high functionality were successfully synthesized by ring-opening epoxidized sucrose esters of soybean oil with methanol under acidic conditions, and were subsequently formulated with blocked isocyanates to form one package polyurethanes (1KPU). The bio-based polyols were characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1 H-NMR) spectroscopy, and Brookfi eld viscosity. Bio-based coatings were prepared by formulating the polyols with blocked polyisocyanates based on isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) and hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI). Two types of bio-based polyols were synthesized and the ratio of NCO:OH functional groups was varied to explore the effect… More >

Donglin Tang^1,2, Shanmugam Thiyagarajan^2,3, Bart A.J. Noordover^1,*, Cor E. Koning¹, Daan S. van Es³, Jacco van Haveren

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.1, No.3, pp. 222-230, 2013, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2013.634116

Abstract A series of fully renewable poly(ester urethane urea)s (PEUs) were synthesized from bio-based starting materials, e.g., the polyester diol, the diisocyanates including L-lysine diisocyanate (LDI) and isoidide diisocyanate (IIDI), the chain-extenders including 1,4-diaminobutane (bDA), diaminoisoidide (iDA) and di(aminobutyl) urea (b2 DA). It is found that the PEU based on the novel diisocyanate, IIDI, exhibits satisfactory thermal and mechanical properties. The LDI-based PEUs show less favorable thermal and mechanical properties than the IIDI-based counterpart, since the chemical structure of LDI is less regular than that of IIDI. However, by introducing a urea-containing dimeric diamine (b2 DA) instead of the monomeric diamines,… More >

Anda Fridrihsone-Girone

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.3, No.1, pp. 28-33, 2015, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2014.634136

Abstract This study assesses present preliminary Life Cycle Inventory for rapeseed oil polyols suitable for the production of polyurethane, which is one of the most widely used polymer materials. Due to growing environmental problems, the polyurethane industry is seeking bio-based raw materials. A study was carried out for rapeseed oil triethanolamine polyol developed at Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry. The cradle-to-gate study was carried out with functional unit of 1 kg rapeseed oil polyol synthesized in a scaled-up pilot reactor. The results show that at the midpoint level the production of rapeseed oil has the highest impact in the following… More >

Tamara Calvo-Correas¹, Mirna A. Mosiewicki², M. Angeles Corcuera¹, Arantxa Eceiza¹, Mirta I. Aranguren^2,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.3, No.1, pp. 3-13, 2015, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2014.634132

Abstract Rigid polyurethane foams were synthesized by using a vegetable oil-based polyol and 4,4-diphenylmethane diisocyanate prepolymer as the majority of reactives,. The polyol was produced by hydroxylation of crude linseed oil with performic acid generated in situ by the reaction of hydrogen peroxide and formic acid. The characterization by FTIR, H1 NMR, iodine and hydroxyl values of the polyol and its comparison with the original linseed oil supports the success of the reaction. The reference foam was subsequently modifi ed by substituting part of the linseed oil polyol with glycerol, diethylene glycol, and a polyethylene glycol (all of them of lower… More >

Nassibeh Hosseini¹, Samad Javid¹, Ali Amiri¹, Chad Ulven^1,*, Dean C. Webster², Ghodrat Karami¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.3, No.3, pp. 205-215, 2015, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2015.634112

Abstract In this study, a novel, bio-based polyol was used in the formulation of a polyurethane (PU) matrix for a composite material where fl ax fi ber was used as the reinforcement. The viscoelastic properties of the matrix and fl ax fi ber were determined by a linear viscoelastic model through experimentation and the results were used as input for the material properties in the computational model. A fi nite element micromechanical model of a representative volume element (RVE) in terms of repeating unit cells (RUC) was developed to predict the mechanical properties of composites. Six loading conditions were applied on… More >

Mike Lawrence

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.3, No.3, pp. 163-174, 2015, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2015.634105

Abstract The relative importance of embodied energy and operational energy on the environmental impact of construction are examined in this article. It highlights the fact that the targets set by the Kyoto Protocol are primarily being met by the reduction of in-use energy, and that the implications of that are that the energy embodied in buildings will increase in signifi cance from its current 17% level to 50% by 2050. The article describes how the use of bio-based renewable materials can make a signifi cant contribution to reducing not only the embodied energy of buildings by using the sequestration of CO2… More >

William Eberts, Matthew T. Siniawski^*, Timothy Burdiak, Nick Polito

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.3, No.4, pp. 259-267, 2015, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2014.634137

Abstract Single-ply biocomposite laminates were fabricated with two different woven fabrics and a bio-based resin using a wet layup technique at room temperature. A highly elastic, stockinette weave bamboo fiber fabric and a thicker, inelastic plain weave bamboo fabric were both investigated. The elastic fabric was pre-strained at 25% intervals, ranging from 0–100% of its original length. Samples made with E-Glass and S-Glass, two common glass fiber reinforcements, were also fabricated using the bioresin as benchmarks. The ultimate strength and modulus of elasticity characteristics of the composites were determined using the ASTM D3039/ D3039M-08 standard test method for determining the tensile… More >

Meixian Li¹, Xin Hu¹, Jie Yang¹, Hongyu Yang^1,3,*, Yao Yuan^2,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.10, pp. 2639-2654, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.019491

Abstract In this work, a bio-based flame retardant (Cy-HEDP) was synthesized from cytosine and HEDP through a facile salt-forming reaction and embedded into epoxy matrix to improve the flame retardancy and smoke suppression performance. The product Cy-HEDP was well characterized by FTIR, ¹ H and ³¹P NMR and SEM tests. On the basis of the results, by adding 15 wt% Cy-HEDP, the EP₁₅ can pass UL-94 V-0 rating, and the total smoke production (TSP) as well as total heat release (THR) can be decreased by 61.05% (from 22.61 to 8.7 m² /m² ) and 39.44% (from 103.19 to 62.50 MJ/m² )… More > Graphic Abstract