Copolymers by Inverse Vulcanization of Sulfur with Pure or Technical-Grade Unsaturated Fatty Acids |
| |
| Authors: | Ashlyn D Smith Colin D McMillen Rhett C Smith Andrew G Tennyson |
| |
| Institution: | 1. Department of Biology and Chemistry, Anderson University, Anderson, South Carolina, 29621;2. Department of Chemistry and Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technology, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina |
| |
| Abstract: | Efforts to develop sustainable industrial processes have led to significant advances toward supplanting petrochemical-dependent technologies. Some of these otherwise sustainable processes, notably animal product rendering and biodiesel production, produce low value waste that is high in free fatty acids. Sulfur in turn is a primary waste product of fossil fuel refining. In the current contribution, copolymers are prepared by reaction of elemental sulfur with fatty acids in several monomer ratios. Both monounsaturated oleic acid and bis(unsaturated) linoleic acid were evaluated to assess the extent to which copolymer properties relate to the degree of unsaturation of the fatty acid comonomer. Furthermore, copolymers prepared from technical grade versus pure linoleic acid were compared to evaluate the viability of the considerably more affordable technical grade monomer. The thermal and mechanical properties of the copolymers were assessed by thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical analysis. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 58, 438–445 |
| |
| Keywords: | sulfur copolymerization inverse vulcanization rendering sustainable polymers |
|
|
