Facile Approach for the Synthesis of Performance-Advantaged Degradable Bio-Based Thermoset via Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization from Epoxidized Soybean Oil

Design and synthesis of polymeric materials from sustainable feedstocks can partly mitigate environmental polymer pollution, and hence, it has received constant attention. This work aims to synthesize a degradable bio-based thermoset via ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) from epoxidized soybean oil (ESO). ESO was converted to norbornene-functionalized ESO first, and then, this functionalized ESO was rapidly generated to a thermoset via ROMP. The ESO-based thermoset exhibits promising thermal properties and mechanical performance, is available for fabrication of composites, and can be fully degraded into small molecules and oligomeric species under aqueous NaOH or KOH. Moreover, the functionalized ESO can copolymerize with norbornene to form partially degradable copolymers. This approach can be used to synthesize degradable vegetable oil-based thermosets for various applications and for environmental sustainability.