Bio-based cyclized Eucommia ulmoides gum elastomer for promising damping applications

Eucommia ulmoides gum (EUG) is an important bio-based material with a structure similar to that of natural rubber. However, EUG is a hard plastic at room temperature due to crystallization, which limits its wide application. In this paper, a bio-based cyclized Eucommia ulmoides gum (CEUG) elastomer with various degrees of cyclization was prepared using TiCl(4)/CH(3)COOH as catalysts. (1)H-NMR and FT-IR techniques were used to obtain structure information. It was found that di-, tri-, and tetra-substituted olefins in the cyclized sequence were formed during cyclization. DSC and XRD results indicated that the cyclized structure could inhibit crystallization. When the degree of cyclization reached 8.2%, crystallization disappeared and the material transformed from a plastic into an elastomer. With increasing of the degree of cyclization, the glass transition temperature (T(g)) of CEUG increased and the thermal stability was enhanced, but the molecular weight decreased significantly. Above all, DMA results showed that the tan δ(max) could reach 1.2 when the degree of cyclization was 20.0%, and the damping temperature range could be adjusted by controlling the degree of cyclization. This new elastomer is expected to contribute to the development of damping materials.