Acrylic Monomers

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Invention Summary Scientists at NDSU have developed a one-step method to convert plant oil into acrylic monomers that substitute for petroleum-based monomers in the production of acrylic polymers. This method can use essentially any plant oil, animal fat, or other fatty esters as the raw material. The output is a combination of (meth) acrylic fatty monomers that can be used directly in the production of latexes, adhesives, surfactants, sizing agents, resins, binders, and other products that utilize acrylic polymers. Additionally, the NDSU monomers contain two types of double bonds. The one within the acrylic group is reactive in conventional addition free radical polymerization, which allows formation of linear polymers. The double bonds within the fatty chain remain unaffected during free radical polymerization, so remain available for oxidative cross-linking and additional tuning of the polymer performance characteristics. This is in contrast to existing plant oil based monomers, which produce non-linear branched and cross-linked polymers (because their fatty chain double bonds participate in the polymerization). The performance attributes of the linear structure derived from the NDSU monomers provide significant benefits as compared with competing plant oil based polymers, with far more options for tuning their functionality and controlling their performance because of their great versatility in macromolecular configuration and chemical composition. Benefits Simple, one step conversion of plant oils and other triglycerides into acrylic monomers Monomers are direct substitutes for petroleum-based monomers in conventional synthesis, with no need to change the manufacturing process Monomers contain two types of double bonds which aren’t present in petroleum-based monomers. These double bonds enable production of linear polymers with additional sites for cross-linking, thereby enabling production of polymers with enhanced functionality Applications Polymeric emulsions (e.g. latexes) Resins Paints and coatings Plastics Adhesives Chemical binders Technology Triglycerides derived from plant oils and fats are difficult to convert into low molecular weight acrylic monomers. Current production of fatty acrylates utilizes multistep synthesis. For example, the production of a well-known fatty monomer, stearyl acrylate, includes saponification, neutralization, reduction, acylation, and other procedures which are quite expensive. NDSU's one-step method can be performed using a batch set-up designed for biodiesel production, providing a simple and well-understood path to substitute bio-based monomers for petroleum based monomers in production of existing and new acrylic polymer.