Rosin
is a sustainable resource, which is mainly composed of resin
acid. Rosin-modified resin is widely used in adhesives, inks, coatings,
and other fields, and its stability is very important for the production,
storage, and use of products. Thermal stability and reactivity of
three resin acids (levopimaric acid, neoabietic acid, and dehydroabietic
acid) and four rosin-modified resins were studied using an accelerating
rate calorimeter (ARC). They are stable, and exothermic reactions
do not occur even when they were heated to 200 °C under a nitrogen
atmosphere, but they are unstable under an oxygen atmosphere. The
mechanism of the oxidation reaction process was found: first, resin
acids absorb oxygen, and then an exothermic oxidation occurs. The
initial exothermic temperature (T
0) of
levopimaric acid, neoabietic acid, and dehydroabietic acid are 354.01,
353.83, and 398.20 K, the initial oxidation kinetics shows a second-order
reaction, and the activation energies (E
a) are 42.90, 58.05, and 46.60 kJ/mol, respectively. Peroxide concentration
of three resin acids were determined by iodometry. The T
0 values of hydrogenated rosin, disproportionated rosin,
hydrogenated rosin glyceride, and hydrogenated rosin pentaerythritol
ester, the four rosin-modified resin, are 353.71, 348.32, 412.85,
and 412.44 K. Levopimaric acid and neoabietic acid have higher oxidative
reactivity and easily undergoes an oxidation reaction at lower temperature.
Rosin-modified resins are stable and find it difficult to undergo
oxidation reactions.