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Highly Stable and Environment-friendly Vinyl Resins

Technology Benefits

Environment-friendly “Green” processSynthetic steps involve no use ofhazardous chemicals, Epichlorohydrin-free processElimination ofester moieties promises stability towards chemical and thermal degradation ofthe resinOne pot/single step processCost-comparative

Detailed Technology Description

Environmentally benign methodology for the synthesis of a new class of resin,vinyl hydroxyl ether resin (VHER).

*Abstract

An environmentally benign methodology forthe synthesis of a new class of resin, vinyl hydroxyl ether resin (VHER). Thisapproach eliminates the chemically and thermallyunstable ester linkages in the resin and eliminates the use of hazardouschemicals epichlorohydrin and styrene.

*Background

Vinyl ester resins (VER) are high performanceunsaturated resins with exceptional mechanical strength and corrosionresistance. In addition to their superior performance, these resins displaylower viscosities than conventional epoxy resins resulting in significantlyimproved processability. Current processof making VER involves toxic chemicals such as epichlorohydrinand styrene.Epichlorohydrin has been identified bythe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a hazardous air pollutant andit also features on the list of controlled chemicals by the EPA.Although, VER is widely utilized, it contains ester linkages which are susceptible tochemical and thermal degradation. Thehydroxyl group present in the VER however, is vital for its interaction with avariety of substrates and fiber reinforcements. Hence,a resin structure containing the hydroxyl group, no ester linkages and avoid the use of toxicchemicals such as epichlorohydrin andstyrene would result in significantly more stable class of resin.

*Publications

Environmentally benign synthesis ofvinyl ester resin from biowaste glycerin; RSCAdv., 2015, 5, 38673–38679Processing andmechanical properties of bio-derived vinyl ester resin-based composites; Inc.J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 44642.

Country/Region

USA