Novel high molecular weight polymers based on palm oil

Palm oil possesses,on average,about 1.8 double bonds per triglyceride. as a result of the relatively low level of unsaturation associated with palm oil,the ability to produce useful thermoset materials is limited. as a means to overcome this limitation,a novel palm oil-based monomer and polymer were produced. the monomer was produced by base-catalysed transesterification of palm oil with 2-(vinyloxy) ethanol. this monomer was subsequently polymerised using cationic polymerisation to produce a polymer with a number-average molecular weight of approximately 20 000 g mole-1. the cationic polymerisation process utilised enabled selective polymerisation through the vinyl ether groups. with this polymerisation process,the unsaturation derived from the palm oil was preserved and utilised for crosslinking. for example,the polymer produced was epoxidised and the epoxide groups subsequently ring-opened with methanol to produce a polymeric polyol. due to the relatively higher number of hydroxyl groups per molecule associated with the palm oil-based polyvinyl ether polyol,tough,hard polyurethane coatings were produced that cured relatively quickly. details related to monomer synthesis and characterisation,polymer synthesis and characterisation,polymer derivatisation and characterisation,and thermoset network production and characterisation are presented.