Soybean oil-based UV-curable coatings strengthened by crosslink agent derived from itaconic acid together with 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate phosphate

A UV curable unsaturated monomer (IG) was synthesized from itaconic acid and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA). After its chemical structure was confirmed by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance ( 1 H NMR and 13 C NMR), IG was used as a crosslink agent to copolymerize with acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO) and a series of UV-cured coatings were prepared. Their thermal and mechanical properties as well as the coating properties on tinplate were investigated. Results demonstrated that not only the mechanical properties such as tensile strength and modulus, but also the coating performances in terms of hardness, flexibility, adhesion and solvent resistance of the cured AESO were increased significantly with the increasing content of IG. The synthesized bio-based IG showed great potential to improve the coating properties of AESO.