Novel biobased resins from blends of functionalized soybean oil and unsaturated polyester resin

Abstract

Biobased unsaturated polyester (UPE) materials containing epoxidized methyl soyate (EMS) were processed with cobalt naphthenate as a promoter and 2-butanone peroxide as an initiator. A certain amount of the UPE resin was replaced by EMS. The combination of the UPE and EMS resulted in an excellent combination for a new biobased thermoset material with a relatively high elastic modulus and a constant glass transition temperature with up to 25 wt % replacement with EMS. The Izod impact strength was almost constant while the amount of EMS was changed. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.