Bioresins from Oil Producing Plants

Bioresins are nontoxic, renewable material resources and biodegradable polymers that may reduce the problem of decreasing petroleum resources and less harmful to the environment. Bioresin is formed from vegetable oil, which mainly consists of triglyceride. Triglyceride in vegetable oil has reactive sites such as double bond (CC) and ester (COOC) functional group. One of the emerging bioresins is vinyl ester, which has high mechanical properties and high processability. Vinyl ester resin has a reactive site double bond (CC) and ester (COOC) functional group. The reactive site can form a polymer with high mechanical properties. Epoxy groups can be introduced to unsaturated vegetable oil sites through chemical pathways or enzymatic oxidation. This chapter elaborates the basic methods for the production of bioresin, followed by the different sources of vegetable oil for bioresin production. The last sections of this chapter discuss the application and economy of bioresin.