High-Performance Bio-Based Cyanate Esters with Low Moisture Uptake.

摘要

The development of new thermosetting polymers from bio-based natural feedstocks has recently received increasing attention due to the desire to replace substances that are not only dependent on petroleum supplies, but, as in the case of Bisphenol A, have been the subject of scrutiny due to possible health and safety concerns. Although much effort is currently focused on finding replacements for the most commonly used thermosetting resins, in applications such as aerospace where product qualification activities incur significant time and cost, an alternative strategy has been to investigate bio- based products with superior performance, so that the required qualification activities result in a higher payoff. Although the predominant assumption among chemists and engineers is that there will likely be some loss in properties when substituting a bio-based thermosetting polymer for a petroleum-based one, there are a number of natural products that could potentially be converted into resins with superior properties, due to the presence of chemical structures in the repeat unit for these products that are known to provide enhanced properties in thermosetting resins.