Biobased thermosetting epoxy foams: Mechanical and thermal characterization

Abstract

Thermosetting epoxy foams were synthesizedby replacing the commercial synthetic epoxy resin by abiogenic epoxidized vegetable oil. Foam formulations weredeveloped avoiding the use of amine hardeners, organicvolatile compounds (OVCs), and ozone depleting orflammable foaming gases. The produced biobased foamswere evaluated in terms of mechanical and thermal properties.It was found that the glass transition temperature (Tg) issomewhat lower than that corresponding to synthetic epoxyfoams, but mechanical properties are similar when comparingfoams of the same density. Moreover, the possibility ofobtaining foams in a wide range of densities (160−550 kg/m3)makes these systems a sound alternative to commercialavailable formulations.