Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Grain Science and Industry / Xiuzhi Susan Sun / Renewable materials are desirable for many applications due to the finite fossil resources
and environmental issues. Plant oil is one of the most promising renewable feedstocks. Plant oils
and functionalized oleo-chemicals including functionalized soybean oils have become attractive
sustainable chemicals for industrial applications. Especially, epoxidized oleo-chemicals such as
epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) are one of the most well-known readily available inexpensive
functionalized plant oils. In this study, novel polymers and nanocomposites for sustainable
materials applications were designed and prepared via ring-opening of epoxide in plant oils, and
their chemical and physical properties were characterized.
The novel transparent elastomers derived from functionalized plant oils have a great
potential as flexible electronic and biological applications with their inherent low toxicity.
Especially, their rheological properties showed a potential for pressure sensitive adhesives
(PSAs). The dominant thermal stability and transparency were obtained via green processing:
one pot, single step, fast reactions in moderate conditions, or solvent-free UV curing conditions.
These oleo-based elastomers presented excellent end-use properties for PSAs application
comparable to commercial PSA tapes. Based on the principal chemical studies, the roles of the
each component have been identified: polymer derived from the ring-opening of epoxides as an
elastomer, and dihydroxylated triglycerides as a tackifier. Their interaction was also elucidated
with an element label analysis. The mechanical and rheological properties of the oleo-polymer as
PSAs were able to be improved with a rosin ester tackifier.
In addition, biogreases and bio-thermoplastics were developed via the environmentally
benign process, which will contribute to further application on the production of new bio-based
materials.
Further, this study essays a novel acid functionalized iron/iron oxide nanoparticles
catalyst with excellent product yields for epoxide ring opening of oleochemicals for a greener
synthetic method of biopolyols, and excellent environmental benefits with life cycle assessment
of syntheses. Those functionalized iron/iron oxide core shell nanoparticles catalysts has great
potential for biomedical engineering process with the highest magnetization of Fe(0) core among
all metals.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:KSU/oai:krex.k-state.edu:2097/15434 |
| Date | January 1900 |
| Creators | Ahn, Byung-Jun Kollbe |
| Publisher | Kansas State University |
| Source Sets | K-State Research Exchange |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
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