Alumina nanoparticles were incorporated in blends of benzoxazine monomers synthesized from bio- and petrobased phenols, cardanol and bisphenol A, respectively, by way of a one-pot solventless methodology. The structures of the monomers were characterized by proton (1H) nuclear magnetic resonance and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Thermal characterization was performed using differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry. The size of bare alumina nanoparticles and those in the polymer nanocomposite was analyzed by powder X-ray diffraction. Blending of alumina particles resulted in lowering of curing temperature of benzoxazine monomer. The effect of nanoparticle incorporation was reflected in the curing behavior and adhesive properties. The adhesive strength is found to be dependent on whether solution or solventless processing is used and on the weight percent of the nanoparticles in the monomer blend. The replacement of 75\% bisphenol A content with cardanol in the benzoxazine resulted in a copolymer which showed a better or comparable adhesive strength. The adhesion was found to improve further with the incorporation of alumina nanoparticles. The lower viscosity of cardanol-based benzoxazine allowed both solventless synthesis and application of monomers, which is a way forward toward greener chemistry and low volatile organic compound processing strategies. © 2017 ICE Publishing. All rights reserved.

Bimlesh Lochab

Chemistry

(SoNS) School of Natural Sciences

Monisha

Shukla S.

<p>Shiv Nadar University is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary, research-focused, and student-centric University offering a full range of academic programs at the undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level. With state-of-the-art infrastructure, the University comprises of academic wings, sophisticated labs, international standard sports facilities, amphitheaters, auditorium, conference rooms and smart classrooms. The University&rsquo;s goal is to become internationally recognized for the quality of its research and creative endeavors and their applicability to improving quality of life, generating new insights and expanding the boundaries of human knowledge creativity. Committed to excellence in teaching, research and service, the University aims to serve the higher education needs of India and the world beyond.</p>

Shiv Nadar University

Green Materials

Polybenzoxazines are evolving as a new class of phenolic resins with a tremendous amount of applications. The ease of structural designing, synthetic procedure, and polymerization reactions are attractive to affect their properties ensuing as an effective substitute for many existing polymers. The nonrenewable origin, toxicity, and increasing cost of petro-based raw materials are alarming issues. Therefore, the emergence of sustainable benzoxazines, especially based on naturally abundant, agro-waste origin cardanol is encouraging as it allows both solventless synthesis of monomers and processing to form highly thermally stable thermoset resins. The inherent functionalities in cardanol benzoxazine provide a platform for further structural modifications to advance their applications as adhesives, composites, and energy storage devices. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics

Cardanol Benzoxazines: A Versatile Monomer with Advancing Applications

Polybenzoxazines (PBzs) are emerging as a highly promising and superior class of thermoset polymers for a variety of applications. However, it remains a significant challenge to substantially lower the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) temperature with an ease in processability. On the other hand, biomacromolecule chitosan (CS) is explored extensively, but its practical applications have been precluded by poor thermal and mechanical properties. Here, we developed a fully biobased copolymer of vanillin benzoxazine (V-fa) monomer with CS, which is effective in providing mutual benefits, effective lowering in ROP temperature of benzoxazine (70 °C), and an enhanced thermal stability of CS (by 85 °C, and with char yield of â32\%). To understand this unusual lowering in ROP temperature, we investigated the structural interaction mechanism between solvated CS and V-fa using in situ NMR studies. The analysis of fully intercalated co-structure demonstrated that there is a strong preference for ROP over Schiff base reaction. It is anticipated that benzoxazine molecules move within the interplanar distance of CS as supported by powder X-ray diffraction studies. An increase in V-fa content in feed ratio led to a placement of V-fa units from random to a systematic and hierarchical arrangement within the CS framework followed by its subsequent polymerization. The synergistic interactions were further supported by Fourier transform infrared, differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron micrsocopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and tensile studies. Current work represents preparation of CS benzoxazine copolymers using a low-cost, efficient, and sustainable approach to assist metal-free ROP reaction of Bz to afford low curable temperature processable films. A new strategy is devised for the utility of CS-PBzs copolymers, enabling their extension to innovative applications in cross-domains. © 2019 American Chemical Society.

ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering

Sustainable Framework of Chitosan-Benzoxazine with Mutual Benefits: Low Curing Temperature and Improved Thermal and Mechanical Properties

Despite recent advances in polybenzoxazines (PBzs), especially of sustainable origin, the lowering of the curing temperature still remains a challenge in addressing their exploration in low-temperature processing applications. Innovative iron-based catalysts which are naturally abundant, cost-effective, and with larger surface area could demonstrate a practical, economic and facile approach for the development of iron NPs-polybenzoxazine composites. Here we propose an approach to develop a composite based on smartly-capped iron nanoparticles (NPs) and agro-waste phenolic-sourced cardanol benzoxazine monomer as a one-step solution with the benefits of lowering the curing temperature and providing superparamagnetism. NPs are smartly designed with a variation in the nature of the functionality in the capping agent and are characterized by thermogravimetry analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The NPs showed a spherical shape of ∼10 nm in size with appreciable magnetic characteristics. Both iron ions and available functionalities in the capping agent endow benefits in lowering the curing temperature of cardanol benzoxazine (64 °C), and enhancing its maximum thermal stability (34 °C), as determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and TGA, respectively. In addition, the nature of the chemical linkages in the polybenzoxazine network and the initial growth in the molecular weight of the polymer were found to be influenced by iron NPs, as supported by FTIR, nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR), UV-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy, and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The capping-agent-facilitated NPs distribution in the polybenzoxazine matrix was determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Polymer nanocomposites even with a 5 wt\% loading of NPs showed good magnetic saturation and superparamagnetic behavior. The present work demonstrated a one-step solution with the incorporation of NPs in a benzoxazine monomer accounting for modification in the properties of polybenzoxazine composites with the benefits of magnetism. © 2018 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

Fulltext

Journal of Materials Chemistry A

Sustainable one-step strategy towards low temperature curable superparamagnetic composite based on smartly designed iron nanoparticles and cardanol benzoxazine

A series of benzoxazine monomers with varied benzoxazine functionality from 1 to 3 (mono, bis, and tris) is prepared by reacting agrowaste-derived cardanol with higher functionality amines. The ring opening polymerization study of cardanol-based benzoxazine monomers is investigated by three modes, namely, solution (nuclear magnetic resonance and gel permeation chromatography), bulk (differential scanning calorimetry), and theoretical (B3LYP and 6–31+G**) calculations to analyze the role of number of benzoxazine functionality in curing behavior of the monomers. It is found that the presence of higher and close vicinity of benzoxazine functionality in the monomer promotes faster ring opening, rapid polymerization conversion, and enhancement in the average molecular weight buildup. The activation energy for the curing process is found to decrease from 144–113 kJ mol−1 from mono- to tris-benzo­xazine monomer. Thermodynamically, the presence of higher benzoxazine moiety reveals the curing process is highly exergonic as supported by theoretical calculations. Free energy for successive protonation varies from −9.54 to −24.68 eV for mono- to tris-functionalized monomer. The effect of number of functionality in monomer on its curing behavior – a complete study is reported to offer sustainable monomers/polymers for futuristic materials applications. (Figure presented.) . © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Kinetics behind a Strategy for Modulation of Sustainable Benzoxazines: Experimental Study and Its Theoretical Verification

Cardanol, a sustainable origin phenol, was utilized as a reactive diluent to mediate solventless Mannich-type condensation reaction with para-formaldehyde and primary aromatic amines to form a homologous series of benzoxazine (Bz) monomers namely C-a, C-ddm, C-trisapm and C-tetraapm which differ in their degree of oxazine functionality as mono-, di-, tri- and tetra-oxazine respectively. A strong correlation is reflected between the number of oxazine rings in the monomer and the polymerization behavior, thermo-mechanical transitions, and properties of the polybenzoxazine synthesized. The monomer structure was confirmed by FTIR, 1H-, 13C-NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The curing, rheological, thermo-mechanical and thermal properties were determined using DSC, FTIR, rheometer, DMTA, LSS and TGA studies. The curing characteristic due to ROP of Bz monomers was supported both by DSC and FTIR studies. The presence of neighboring oxazine group in monomers (C-a to C-tetraapm) strongly attenuates the curing temperature (Ti = 225-140°C), enhances Tg, thermal stability, and mechanical properties. Interestingly, DFT calculations also supported the lowest curing temperature for highest oxazine functionality monomer (C-tetraapm). The interplay between the degree of oxazine functionality in the monomer; extent of H-bonding and crosslink density values in sustainable origin synthesized polybenzoxazines is suggested. The thermoset showed an increasing trend (PC-a < PC-ddm < PC-trisapm < PC-tetraapm) in Tg (58-109°C), thermal stability (355-391°C), char yield (13-37\%), LOI (23-31) and storage modulus (3.6-66.5 MPa) values. The monomers are liquid to semi-viscous paste at room temperature and showed potential for solventless processing in adhesive applications. © 2015 Royal Society of Chemistry.

RSC Advances

Cardanol benzoxazines-interplay of oxazine functionality (mono to tetra) and properties

Exploration of sustainable alternatives to chemicals derived from petro-based industries is the current challenge for maintaining the balance between the needs of a changing world while preserving nature. The major source for sustainable chemicals is either the natural existing plant sources or waste generated from agro-based industries. The utility of such resources will supplement new processed materials with different sets of properties and environmental friendliness due to their biodegradability and low toxicity during preparation, usage and disposal. Amongst other polymers used on a day-to-day basis, phenolic resins account for vast usage. Replacement of petro-based monomers such as phenol and its derivatives either partly or completely utilized for the synthesis of such resins is ongoing. Extraction of natural phenolic components from cashew nut shell liquid, lignin, tannin, palm oil, coconut shell tar or from agricultural and industrial waste, and their utilization as synthons for the preparation of bio-based polymers and properties obtained are reviewed in this paper. This review article is designed to acknowledge efforts of researchers towards the "3C" motto-not only trying to create but also adapting the principles to conserve and care for a sustainable environment. This review paper describes how extraction, separation and recovery of desired phenolic compounds have occurred recently; how substituted phenol compounds, unmodified and modified, act as monomers for polymerization; and how the presence of sustainable phenolic material affects the properties of polymers. There are about 600 references cited and still there is a lot to uncover in this research area. This journal is © the Partner Organisations 2014.