Shear induced structuration of liquid crystalline epoxy thermosets

Synthesis of multifunctional liquid crystalline epoxy resin embedded cyclic-siloxane chain with Tg-less behavior and enhanced toughness

A novel tetrafunctional mesogenic epoxy monomer with a cyclic-siloxane chain as a central part was successfully synthesized and characterized by proton nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and polarized optical microscopy. The transition temperature and liquid crystallinity of cyclic-siloxane type mesogenic epoxy were compared with those of linear-siloxane type mesogenic epoxy. Moreover, epoxy thermosets were prepared based on the cyclic- and linear-siloxane type mesogenic epoxy monomers and 4,4′-diaminodiphenylethane. The effects of epoxy backbone moiety on thermal and mechanical properties were investigated in detail. As a result, the cyclic-siloxane type mesogenic epoxy thermoset shows glass transition temperature-less behavior and low coefficient of linear thermal expansion without a decrease in toughness.

Enhanced heterogeneous catalytic conversion of furfuryl alcohol into butyl levulinate

We study the catalytic condensation of furfuryl alcohol with 1-butanol to butyl levulinate. A screening of several commercial and as-synthesized solid acid catalysts shows that propylsulfonic acid-functionalized mesoporous silica outperforms the state-of-the-art phosphotungstate acid catalysts. The catalyst is prepared via template-assisted sol-gel polycondensation of TEOS and MPTMS. It gives 96 % yield (and 100 % selectivity) of butyl levulinate in 4 h at 110 °C. Reaction profiles before and after a hot filtration test confirm that the active catalytic species do not leach into the solution. The catalyst synthesis, characterization, and mode of operation are presented and discussed.

Efficient conversion of furfuryl alcohol into alkyl levulinates catalyzed by an organic-inorganic hybrid solid acid catalyst

A clean, facile, and environment-friendly catalytic method has been developed for the conversion of furfuryl alcohol into alkyl levulinates making use of the novel solid catalyst methylimidazolebutylsulfate phosphotungstate ([MIMBS]₃PW₁₂O₄₀). The solid catalyst is an organic-inorganic hybrid material, which consists of an organic cation and an inorganic anion. A study for optimizing the reaction conditions such as the reaction time, the temperature and the catalyst loading has been performed. Under optimal conditions, a high n-butyl levulinate yield of up to 93 % is obtained. Furthermore, the kinetics of the reaction pathways and the mechanism for the alcoholysis of furfuryl alcohol are discussed. This method is environmentally benign and economical for the conversion of biomass-based derivatives into fine chemicals.