Synthesis and photoinitiated cationic polymerization of epoxidized castor oil and its derivatives

In this communication we describe the synthesis of epoxidized castor oil (EGO) as an interesting and inexpensive biorenewable monomer by an efficient and low cost epoxidation process. Also described are studies of the photoinitiated cationic polymerization of ECO using diaryliodonium salt photoinitiators. The influence of the structure and the concentration of the photoinitiator on the polymerization are reported. The ability of photosensitizers to accelerate the photopolymerization was also studied. Studies comparing the photopolymerization behavior of ECD with other commercially available epoxidized:linseed and soybean oils and with other types of synthetic epoxy monomers were conducted. The excellent reactivity of ECO can be ascribed to the presence of both epoxy and hydroxyl groups in the molecule which permits this material to polymerize mainly by an activated monomer mechanism.