Poly(urea-urethane) nanoparticles using mono- and diacylglycerol from glycerolysis of castor oil as biopolyol and stabilizer

• Published in: European polymer journal Vol. 108; pp. 529 - 535
• Main Authors: Bresolin, Daniela, Mazurek, Vinícius, Valério, Alexsandra, Sayer, Claudia, de Araújo, Pedro H.H., de Oliveira, Débora
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01-11-2018; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Biopolyol; Castor oil; Chemical synthesis; Enzymatic glycerolysis; Latex; Lattices; Lipase; Miniemulsion polymerization; Nanoparticles; Poly(urea-urethane) nanoparticles; Polymerization; Raw materials; Renewable resources; Sedimentation; Stabilizers (agents); Ureas; Vegetable oils; Biopolyol; Miniemulsion polymerization; Enzymatic glycerolysis; Poly(urea-urethane) nanoparticles; Castor oil
• ISSN: 0014-3057; 1873-1945
• DOI: 10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2018.09.044

[Display omitted]
•Enzymatic glycerolysis of castor oil was carried out to obtain a biopolyol.•High content of mono- and diacylglycerols in biopolyol was obtained.•Mono- and diacylglycerols were used as biopolyol and stabilizer.•PUU latex by miniemulsion polymerization was obtained without additional surfactant.•Stable PUU latex with solids content up to 40 wt%.
Vegetable oils as renewable raw materials for polymer synthesis are considered a clean and environment-friendly alternative to substitute partially, and to some extent totally, petroleum-based monomers. In this work, enzymatic glycerolysis of castor oil with Novozym 435 (C. antarctica lipase B) as catalyst was performed in a solvent-free system at 70 °C. The glycerolysis product was used as biopolyol and stabilizer for the synthesis of poly(urea-urethane) (PUU) nanoparticles via miniemulsion polymerization. Results showed that the PUU particles size increased with solids content and z-average particle diameters ranging from 167 to 282 nm when the solids content was increased from 20 to 40 wt%. All lattices were stable towards sedimentation, although the latex with lower particle size exhibited a higher stability. Thereby, this work showed a green route to produce stable PUU lattices from renewable resources without the use of any additional surfactant.