Preparation and characterization of bio‐based elastomers with low hysteresis and their wood composites

Abstract

Bio‐based elastomers and composites are of great interest in numerous applications for environmental sustainability. In this study, bio‐based elastomers with low hysteresis are developed from epoxied soybean oil (ESO) with tetradecanedioic acid (TA) as the curing agent. The as‐prepared ESO/TA thermosets are in the rubbery state at room temperature, with a glass transition temperature (Tg) falling between −19°C and −27°C depending on the amount of TA. With optimized amounts of TA, the elongation at break of ESO/TA thermosets exceeds 130%. ESO/TA thermosets display a stress‐softening behavior and remarkable resilience with low residual strain (<1%) and hysteresis (<7%) after removal of irregular crosslinks and/or interactions by the first stretching. The adhesion of ESO/TA thermosets to wood is also examined through adjustments to the pressure and temperature that are applied for curing. ESO/TA thermosets are then used as the matrix to prepare wood‐polymer composites. Their flexural properties are explored to demonstrate the potential for using ESO/TA thermosets in eco‐friendly wood‐polymer composites.