Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Grain Science and Industry / X. Susan Sun / A demand in sustainable polymers has been increased because of the environment concerns and saving finite petroleum resources. Plant oils are promising renewable resources to produce environmentally friendly polymer applications. Soybean oil-based resins such as epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) and acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO) have been well-known functionalized plant oils, but relatively low performances of their polymers and a competition with food production have been disadvantages. Thus, in this study, we designed new plant oil-based acrylates using non-food resources and achieved excellent properties of the acrylates for coatings and thermoset applications. Firstly, we developed coating materials with high mechanical, thermal and coating performances using acrylated epoxidized camelina oil (AECO) as a main acrylate monomer with various meth(acrylates) as reactive diluents Next, acrylated epoxidized cardanol modified fatty acids from camelina oil (AECFA) was successfully synthesized, and a phenolic structure with long aliphatic side chains with acrylic groups was obtained. The novel structure of AECFA provided rigidity into its polymer maintained with flexibility, and AECFA coating material showed better performances in terms of all properties such as mechanical, thermal, viscoelastic, and coating performances, as compared to commercial AESO resin. Finally, acrylated epoxidized allyl 10-undecenoate (AEAU) was developed from 10-undecenoic acid, castor oil derivative. The single fatty ester structure with di-functional acrylates of AEAU had very lower viscosity and showed better thermoset performances than those of triglyceride-based acrylates such as AESO and AECO. Thus, AEAU had a potential to an alternative to AESO for thermoset applications.

Crystallisation of epoxy resins based on bisphenol A and bisphenol F is the natural property of these oligomers. However, manufacturers of paints and other systems based on these epoxy resins, strive to slow down the crystallisation process as much as possible, thereby prolonging the shelf life and improving the competitiveness of their products. The main aim of the thesis is generalisation of the factors influencing the crystallisation process of epoxy resins based on bisphenol A and bisphenol F, verifying new approaches to the possibility of influencing the crystallisation process and determining the possibility of using a certain degree of epoxy resins crystallinity based on bisphenol A and bisphenol F in the preparation and production of epoxy resinbased coating systems.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-01T12:17:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Aquivototal.pdf: 4458207 bytes, checksum: c998f318cd914a74966cc43b803e4c8d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-26 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / It is estimated that there are 500,000 acres of mesquite (Prosopis juliflora) planted in the Brazilian Northeast, 45% only on State of Paraíba. In State, the wood is used almost exclusively as fuel on drying kilns and firing of ceramic products in brick kilns, generating ash as residue. These ashes contain a high concentration of alkaline metals and earth metals, mainly CaO and K2O. This work studies the use of this residue in the ceramic tiles industry, in substitution to the feldspar. Thirteen mixtures with equal ratios of clay, kaolin and quartz, and the residue (varying from 5% to 20%, still under three granulometric perspectives), and prepared specimens of dimensions 110 mm x 55 mm x 8 mm in uniaxial tool die, with compacting pressure of 15 MPa. The samples were fired in three different temperatures: 1160°C, 1190°C and 1220°C, during 20 minutes, and characterized by means of X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, gravimetric thermal analysis and differential thermal analysis. The results of water absorption, apparent porosity and specific mass, linear shrinkage and flexural strength were also analysed. The specimens with addition of 5 and 10% ash, of granulometric -#35 +#60 (250 μm < particle size < 500 μm), fired in 1220°C, presented results of water absorption of 0.99% and 0.62%, respectively, which according to the ABNT, ASTM and ISO standards can be classified as stoneware tiles, and flexural strength of 23.3 and 23.0 MPa, respectively, being classified as coating materials. / Estima-se que existam 500 mil hectares de algarobeiras (Prosopis juliflora) plantadas no Nordeste, 45% do montante só na Paraíba. No Estado, a lenha é utilizada quase que exclusivamente como combustível nos fornos de secagem e queima de produtos cerâmicos nas olarias, gerando uma cinza como resíduo/subproduto. As cinzas da lenha de algaroba apresentam elevadas concentrações de metais alcalinos e alcalinos-terrosos, principalmente CaO e K2O. O presente trabalho estuda a utilização desse resíduo na indústria de placas cerâmicas para revestimentos, em substituição ao feldspato. Foram definidas 13 formulações com iguais proporções de argila, caulim e quartzo, e o resíduo (variando de 5 a 20%, ainda sob três perspectivas granulométricas), e confeccionados corpos de prova de dimensões 110 mm x 55 mm x 8 mm em matriz uniaxial, com pressão de compactação de 15 MPa. As amostras foram sinterizadas em três níveis de temperatura, 1160°C, 1190°C e 1220°C, com patamar de queima de 20 minutos. Foram realizados ensaios para caracterização das matérias-primas por fluorescência de raios-X, difração de raios-X, AG, DTA e ATG, e analisados os resultados de absorção de água, porosidade e massa específica aparentes, retração linear e tensão de ruptura à flexão. Os corpos de prova com adição de 5 e 10% de cinzas, de granulometria -#35 +#60 (250 μm < tamanho de partícula < 500 μm), sinterizados a 1220°C, apresentaram resultados de absorção de água de 0,99% e 0,62%, respectivamente, o que segundo as normas ABNT, ASTM e ISO podem ser classificados como grês porcelanato, e resistência à flexão de 23,3 e 23,0 MPa, respectivamente, caracterizando-os como materiais de revestimento.