TABLE OF CONTENTS Richard P. Wool
Recent advances in genetic engineering, composite science, and natural fiber development offer significant opportunities for developing new, improved materials from renewable resources that can biodegrade or be recycled, enhancing global sustainability. A wide range of high-performance, low-cost materials can be made using plant oils, natural fibers, and lignin. By selecting the fatty acid distribution function of plant oils via computer simulation and the molecular connectivity, we can control chemical functionalization and molecular architecture to produce linear, branched, or cross-linked polymers. These materials can be used as pressure-sensitive adhesives, elastomers, rubbers, and composite resins. This chapter describes the chemical pathways that were used to modify plant oils and allow them to react with each other and various comonomers to form materials with useful properties.
Polymers and polymeric composite materials have extensive applications in the aerospace, automotive, marine, infrastructure, military, sports, and industrial fields. These lightweight materials exhibit excellent mechanical properties, high corrosion resistance, dimensional stability, and low assembly costs. Traditionally, polymers and polymeric composites have been derived from petroleum; however, as the applications for polymeric materials increase, finding alternative sources of these materials has become critical. In recent years, the Affordable Composites from Renewable Sources (ACRES) program at the University of Delaware has developed a broad range of chemical routes to use natural triglyceride oils to make polymers and composite materials [1, 2]. These materials have economic and environmental advantages that make them attractive alternatives to petroleum-based materials.
Natural oils, which can be derived from...
