Biobased Epoxy: Applications in Mendable and Reprocessable Thermosets, Pressure-Sensitive Adhesives and Thermosetting Foams

Abstract

Biobased epoxy polymeric materials are selected to progressively replace fully synthetic ones as petroleum scarcity becomes a more visible problem and its continuously increasing price. Considerable efforts are undertaken by both academic and industrial actors to achieve reliable biobased products with competitive properties to alleviate the dependence on fossil resources and to face an increasing demand on more environmentally friendly materials. Chapters 1 to 11 of this book covered several aspects and assessment of relevant properties of biobased epoxy materials. In this chapter, we focus on three appealing applications of biobased epoxies: self-healing thermosetting polymers and composite matrices, with special emphasis on the recently developed self-healing and recyclable networks based on dynamic and reversible bonds; pressure-sensitive adhesives, whose growing market together with increasing restrictions on the use of fossil-derived precursors makes an ideal opportunity for biobased epoxies; and finally, the most relevant applications for epoxy foams, both syntactic and those obtained through a foaming process.