Bio-based adhesives via reversible Diels-Alder crosslinking
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Wu, Andrew K.
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Abstract
The widespread use of petroleum-based thermoset materials in industries such as packaging, construction, electronics, and textiles presents significant environmental challenges due to their non-recyclable nature. Traditional thermosets are permanently crosslinked, making it economically and technically difficult to recycle multi-component products—particularly those incorporating thermoset adhesives.
To address these issues, this thesis focuses on developing a bio-based, thermally reversible thermoset adhesive using covalent adaptable networks (CANs). A furan-functionalized epoxy resin is synthesized, which forms dynamic covalent bonds with maleimide via the Diels–Alder reaction. These bonds can be reversibly crosslinked and decrosslinked through temperature control, enabling the adhesive to be reshaped, recycled, and reused.
In this thesis, furan groups are grafted onto DGEBA and compared with two other functional groups, phenyl and hydroxyl, to evaluate the influence of polarity on adhesion strength. The interaction between these functionalized adhesives and two commonly used plastics, PET and HDPE, is investigated to understand how surface chemistry affects adhesion. Additionally, petroleum-based DGEBA is replaced with Mimosa tannin to develop a fully bio-based, reversible adhesive. The thesis explores how chemical structure and surface interactions impact adhesive performance and demonstrates the potential of renewable materials to address the recycling challenges of permanently crosslinked thermosetting adhesives.
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2025-04-23
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