Soybean‐Oil‐Based Thermosetting Resins with Methacrylated Vanillyl Alcohol as Bio‐Based, Low‐Viscosity Comonomer

A novel, bio‐based, aromatic monomer (methacrylated vanillyl alcohol, MVA) is synthesized using vanillyl alcohol and methacrylic anhydride in the absence of solvents. The resulting MVA is used as a sustainable comonomer to replace styrene in a maleinated acrylated epoxidized soybean‐oil (MAESO) resin to produce novel thermosets via free radical polymerization. The influence of MVA loading on the viscosity, gelation time, curing extent, thermomechanical properties, and tensile properties of the MAESO–MVA thermoset is investigated. The synthesized MVA exhibits very low volatility, which is beneficial for the development of construction material with low or zero emission. The viscosity of the MAESO–MVA system can be tailored to meet the commercial requirements. Increasing the MVA content accelerates the crosslinking reaction rate and improves thermal and mechanical properties of the MAESO–MVA system. The glass transition temperature increases with increasing MVA content. Soxhlet extraction experiments show that more than 90% of the components are incorporated into the crosslinking network. Overall, the developed MVA monomer shows promising properties to be used as an effective, green comonomer to replace styrene. Methacrylated vanillyl alcohol (MVA) monomer shows promising results as a bio‐based comonomer to replace styrene for maleinated acrylated epoxidized soybean‐oil (MAESO) resins and exhibits advantages in terms of low volatility, sustainability, environmental friendliness, good processability, and improved glass transition temperature. Moreover, both methacrylated vanillyl alcohol and MAESO resin are derived from bio‐based renewable resource.