A new, environmentally friendly approach towards the synthesis of epoxy functionalized poly-DCPD

Epoxy resins are thermosetting resins with excellent mechanical properties, high adhesiveness to many substrates, good thermal stability and chemical resistances, high tensile strength and modulus, and ease of handling and processability. Currently epoxy resins are very popular as fiber-reinforced materials, general-purpose adhesives, high-performance coatings, paints and encapsulating materials. During the last decades, demand for material systems with precise control over multiple properties has increased, as well as the necessity to find new sustainable processes for their manufactory. Thanks to a collaboration between the German company Rutgers and professor Raveendran of the University of Amsterdam, the work presented here was focused on a novel, environmentally friendly path for the achievement of epoxy functionalized poly-DCPD. Reaction of epoxidation of DCPD with hydrogen peroxide, catalyzed by various metal oxides, was studied and optimized in view of a future polymerization of the functionalized monomers. Direct epoxidation of poly-DCPD was also attempted.