Photocuring and digital light processing 3D printing of vitrimer composed of 2-hydroxy-2-phenoxypropyl acrylate and acrylated epoxidized soybean oil

Vitrimers have gained attention as materials with recyclability, self-healing, and shape memory properties. The use of bio-based monomers for the synthesis of vitrimers is relevant because of the use of an environmentally friendly strategy. In this work, resins based on 2-hydroxy-2-phenoxypropyl acrylate and acrylated epoxidized soybean oil were designed and tested by real-time photorheometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and mechanical testing to determine suitability for digital light processing 3D printing. The synthesis of vitrimer that could have good thermal properties and vitrimeric abilities, such as shape memory, self-healing, and recyclability properties, was investigated. Because of this, the vitrimer could repair cracks and defects and could have a complex design of several parts, which also contributes to recyclability and decreases costs. The rigidity and viscosity of the resins were reduced with an increasing amount of 2-hydroxy-2-phenoxypropyl acrylate-based monomer. The resin that has the highest amounts of hydroxyl and ester groups that are beneficial for transesterification reactions was chosen for vitrimer synthesis in order to show vitrimeric abilities such as self-healing, shape memory properties, reprocessability, and recyclability. The synthesized vitrimer was applied to digital light processing 3D printing and showed shape memory with a recovery ratio of 100%, self-healing and reprocessability with an efficiency of 47 and 31% and recyclability properties

Glycerol Acrylate-Based Photopolymers with Antimicrobial and Shape-Memory Properties

In this paper, for the first time, photopolymers were synthesized from glycerol acrylates with different numbers of functional groups, 2-hydroxy-3-phenoxypropyl acrylate, glycerol dimethacrylate or glycerol trimethacrylate, without and with the addition of vanillin styrene. The photocuring kinetics were monitored by real-time photorheometry. The mechanical, rheological, thermal, antimicrobial and shape-memory properties of the photopolymers were investigated. All polymers synthesized demonstrated antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, as well as antifungal activity against Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus niger. 2-Hydroxy-3-phenoxypropyl acrylate-based polymers showed thermoresponsive shape-memory behavior. They were able to maintain their temporary shape below the glass transition temperature and return to their permanent shape above the glass transition temperature. Synthesized photopolymers have potential to be used as sustainable polymers in a wide range of applications such as biomedicine, photonics, electronics, robotics, etc

UV-Cured Green Polymers for Biosensorics: Correlation of Operational Parameters of Highly Sensitive Biosensors with Nano-Volumes and Adsorption Properties

The investigated polymeric matrixes consisted of epoxidized linseed oil (ELO), acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO), trimethylolpropane triglycidyl ether (RD1), vanillin dimethacrylate (VDM), triarylsulfonium hexafluorophosphate salts (PI), and 2,2-dimethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone (DMPA). Linseed oil-based (ELO/PI, ELO/10RD1/PI) and soybean oil-based (AESO/VDM, AESO/VDM/DMPA) polymers were obtained by cationic and radical photopolymerization reactions, respectively. In order to improve the cross-linking density of the resulting polymers, 10 mol.% of RD1 was used as a reactive diluent in the cationic photopolymerization of ELO. In parallel, VDM was used as a plasticizer in AESO radical photopolymerization reactions. Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) was used to characterize vegetable oil-based UV-cured polymers regarding their structural stability in a wide range of temperatures (120–320 K) and humidity. The polymers were used as laccase immobilization matrixes for the construction of amperometric biosensors. A direct dependence of the main operational parameters of the biosensors and microscopical characteristics of polymer matrixes (mostly on the size of free volumes and water content) was established. The biosensors are intended for the detection of trace water pollution with xenobiotics, carcinogenic substances with a very negative impact on human health. These findings will allow better predictions for novel polymers as immobilization matrixes for biosensing or biotechnology applications