Non-Conventional Features of Plant Oil-Based Acrylic Monomers in Emulsion Polymerization

In recent years, polymer chemistry has experienced an intensive development of a new field regarding the synthesis of aliphatic and aromatic biobased monomers obtained from renewable plant sources. A one-step process for the synthesis of new vinyl monomers by the reaction of direct transesterification of plant oil triglycerides with N-(hydroxyethyl)acrylamide has been recently invented to yield plant oil-based monomers (POBMs). The features of the POBM chemical structure, containing both a polar (hydrophilic) fragment capable of electrostatic interactions, and hydrophobic acyl fatty acid moieties (C(15)-C(17)) capable of van der Waals interactions, ensures the participation of the POBMs fragments of polymers in intermolecular interactions before and during polymerization. The use of the POBMs with different unsaturations in copolymerization reactions with conventional vinyl monomers allows for obtaining copolymers with enhanced hydrophobicity, provides a mechanism of internal plasticization and control of crosslinking degree. Synthesized latexes and latex polymers are promising candidates for the formation of hydrophobic polymer coatings with controlled physical and mechanical properties through the targeted control of the content of different POBM units with different degrees of unsaturation in the latex polymers.