Rigid bio-foam plastics with intrinsic flame retardancy derived from soybean oil

Abstract

Acrylated epoxidized soybean oil was chemically grafted with difunctional flame retardants carrying phosphorus, double bonds or biphenyl groups, and then copolymerized with styrene to produce bio-foams with high mechanical properties and intrinsic flame resistance. Owing to the introduction of rigid comonomer, phosphorus, additional double bonds or biphenyl side groups, the bio-foams showed compressive strength similar to that of conventional unsaturated polyester foam, antiflaming capability and biodegradability as well. More importantly, the modified flame retardant partially took the role of styrene, leading to a lower fraction of petroleum based substance in the bio-foams without the expense of foam strength, and improved biodegradability. The comparison between the bio-foams with intrinsic flame retardancy on a molecular level and those containing inflaming retardant fillers revealed that the latter have acquired rather poor mechanical properties and hence are obviously inferior to the former in practical applications where a load-bearing capability is required. © 2013 The Royal Society of Chemistry.