Thiol-ene biobased networks: Furan allyl derivatives for green coating applications

The employment of biomass feedstocks is crucial in the development of sustainable materials as alternatives to fossil-based resources. Within this context, furan derivatives from hemicellulose have been investigated as viable bio-based building blocks. In our study, we focused on two specific furan derivatives, namely 2,5-Furandimethanol (FDM) and cis-cyclobutane-1,2-dicarboxylic acid (CBDA-2), which were derived from Furylacrylic acid. The allylation of these two compounds was carried out by a Ph.D student. The resulting bis-allyl derivatives were combined with commercially available tris- and tetra-functional thiol monomers then cured using UV light through a thiol-ene reaction. The UV-curing process was thoroughly studied using real-time FT-IR, photo-DSC, and photo-rheology techniques to investigate the curing kinetic. Subsequently, the bio-based thermosets were characterized using DMTA, DSC and tensile techniques to evaluate their thermal-mechanical behaviour. Furthermore, gel content, contact angle and hardness were assessed. The results demonstrated comparable properties to already studied bio-based thiol-ene thermosets, indicating the potential use of the studied material for coating applications.