Novel bioplastics and biocomposites from vegetable oils

New polymeric thermosets have been prepared from the bulk free radical copolymerization of 100% conjugated linseed oil (C100LIN), acrylonitrile (AN), and divinylbenzene (DVB). Under the appropriate reaction conditions and curing sequence, 61-96 wt % of the oil is incorporated into the crosslinked thermoset. The resulting yellow transparent thermosets vary from being soft and flexible to hard and brittle. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) show that these thermosets exhibit good mechanical properties and thermal stability.