FUNCTIONALIZED LIGNIN MODEL COMPOUNDS UTILIZED IN BIO-BASED RESINS

摘要

Composite materials that incorporate thermosetting matrix resins with high strength and highthermal resistance utilized in a wide-variety of industrial and governmental applications arederived primarily from petrochemical feedstocks and produce environmental toxins through moststages of chemicals and materials manufacturing. Recent developments in bio-based compositeresins include fatty acid vinyl esters and acrylated or maleinized soybean oil; however, theseresins have reduced glass transition temperatures relative to commercial vinyl ester and UPEresins which limits their use. Additionally, these resins often incorporate petroleum-basedreactive diluents in order to have a viscosity that is amicable for molding operations and toincrease overall performance. Lignin is an abundant renewable resource that is a copious wasteproduct of the paper and pulping industry. The high aromatic content found in lignin would beideal for the development of novel resin systems for commercial applications. Functionalizedlignin model compounds synthesized and employed as alternative bio-based monomers in liquidmolding resins are presented. The incorporation of aromaticity to the chemical structure of aresin is known to drastically improve the mechanical performance and increase the glasstransition temperature of materials; therefore, lignin model compounds seem to be excellentchoices.