Novel Biobased Polymers for Coating Applications

 
As a result of substantial developments in the area of carbocationic polymerization, the polymerization of novel biobased vinyl ether monomers possessing unsaturated groups in their side-chains was enabled. Linear vinyl ether polymers with narrow molecular weight distributions were obtained from novel vinyl ether monomers derived from a variety of renewable resources including plant oils, eugenol, and cardanol. By appropriate choice of the polymerization system, living polymerization was achieved and unsaturation derived from the renewable resource was preserved in the polymer. By preserving side-chain unsaturation, crosslinked networks were achieved through an oxidative mechanism. In addition, the unsaturation was derivatized to other functional groups that enabled the production of coatings through a variety of crosslinking mechanisms. Further, it was demonstrated that these biobased vinyl ether monomers could be readily copolymerized with other monomers to produce a wide array of functionalized copolymers useful as binders for coatings.