| In the work of this dissertation, polymers derived from renewable bio-based resources prepared by various polymerization techniques were investigated. The properties of these polymeric materials were characterized and discussed. Rosin was first converted into acrylate or methacrylate monomers for atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Second, rosin was combined with vegetable oil to produce completely renewable novel polyesters by acyclic diene metathesis (ADMET) polymerization. Third, degradable block copolymers were synthesized composed of polycaprolactone and rosin grafted polycaprolactone with the aid of ring-opening polymerization (ROP). Finally, degradable polyesters were produced using vegetable oil derivatives as starting materials. These new rosin and fatty acid based renewable polymer materials will have potential applications as sustainable thermoplastics, thermoplastic elastomers, etc. |
