Poly(HIPEs) from terpenoid-derived acrylates

The need for utilization of non-fossil fuel derived sources for polymer production is growing. In this study the terpenoids tetrahydrogeraniol, citronellol and nopol were modified with an esterification procedure using acryloyl chloride, forming terpenoid acrylates. The synthesised acrylates were used for the production of hierarchically porous polymers via high internal phase emulsion (HIPE) templating with emulsions consisting of an organic (monomer) phase and an aqueous phase with a volume fraction of 85%. The acrylate terpenoids in the organic phase were crosslinked with trimethylolpropane triacrylate (TMPTA) to form the polyHIPEs. A crosslinking degree of 5 and 10 mol% was used to investigate the feasibility of polyHIPE production. While both crosslinking degrees enabled the synthesis of polymers, only the 10 mol% crosslinking yielded the typical interconnected porous cellular topology. The average primary pore diameter in the case of the tetrahydrogeraniol acrylate and citronellyl acrylate was 15.6 and 16.5 μm, respectively, while the average primary pore diameter in the case of nopol acrylate was 5.6 μm.