Facile synthesis of a novel bio-based methacrylate monomer derived from tung oil and its application for solvent-free thermosetting coatings

A novel bio-based methacrylate monomer (MEAM) derived from tung oil was synthesized through a two-step synthetic procedure involving amidation and esterification reactions. The chemical structure of MEAM was confirmed by proton nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared and gel permeation chromatography. Then, a series of tung oil-derived thermosets were produced by the polymerization of this methacrylate monomer with different contents of maleic anhydride (MA). The dynamic mechanical analysis, tensile properties and pencil hardness were conducted on the obtained thermosetting films. It was revealed that with the increase of the content of MA, T-g values, the tensile strength and the pencil hardness of the films varied in the range from 63.3-109.2 degrees C, 12.8 +/- 0.8-22.7 +/- 1.2 MPa, and 4H to 6H, respectively. And the thermal stabilities and mechanical properties of these films could be adjusted simply by controlling molar ratios of MEAM to MA. Furthermore, the thermosetting films demonstrated comparable corrosion resistance to commercial epoxy methacrylic coating, and had good chemical resistance, adhesion and water boiling resistance. These results indicate that the prepared tung oil-derived thermosetting films are suitable to be applied as bio-based anticorrosion coatings.