Synthesis of Mechanically Robust and Self-Healing UV-Curable Materials from Renewable Feedstock

Using renewable resources to synthesize a mechanically robust and self-healing UV-curable material is very important for the development of sustainable coatings. In this study, two kinds of UV-curable monomers synthesized from renewable feedstock, malic acid–glycidyl methacrylate (MG) and citric acid–glycidyl methacrylate (CG), were obtained under solvent-free conditions. As a result of high cross-linking density and abundant hydrogen bonds formed in networks, the cured MG and CG show high glass transition temperature, tensile strength, and modulus comparable to or better than those of the UV-curable material prepared from commercial bisphenol A epoxy acrylate (BPAEA). Meanwhile, taking advantage of −OH groups and the increase in ester concentration at elevated temperatures, the efficient self-healability of cured resins can be accomplished without an external catalyst through dynamic transesterifications. In this work, the cured MG and CG exhibit great potential in advanced coating applications, which introduces the first UV-curable materials with an integration of high mechanical performance and catalyst-free self-healing properties, obtained from bioresources.