One-Step Method for Direct Acrylation of Vegetable Oils: A Biobased Material for 3D Printing

The substitution of fossil resources by alternatives derived from biomass is a reality that is taking on a growing relevance in the chemical and energy industries. In this sense, fats, oils, and their derived products have become indispensable inputs due to their broad functional attributes, stable price and sustainable character. Acrylated vegetable oils are considered to be very versatile materials for very broad applications (such as in adhesives, coatings or inks) since, in the presence of photoinitiators, they can be polymerized by means of UV-initiated free radical polymerizations. The usual process for the synthesis of acrylate vegetable oils consists in reacting epoxidized oils derivatives with acrylic acid. Here, the influence of different catalysts on the activity and selectivity of the process of acrylation of epoxidized soybean oil is studied. In addition, a novel one-step method for direct acrylation of vegetable oils is also explored. This new approach advantageously uses the original vegetable resource and eliminates intermediate reactions, thus being more environmentally efficient. This study offers a simple and low-cost option for synthesizing a biomass-derived monomer and studies the potential for the 3D printing of complex structures via digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing of the thus-obtained novel sustainable formulations.