Bio-based materials synthesized from sustainable and renewable resources are gaining considerable attention in academe and industry. Soybean oil is a bio renewable molecule suitable for conversion to useful materials. It possesses unsaturated (double bond) structure in its molecular chain, and can be modified or reacted with other reactive chemical species to produce value added biobased materials.Coating materials prepared from the reaction of soybean oil and reactive silanes (vinyl trimethoxy silane and vinyl terminated polydimethylsiloxane) are described in this thesis. The silylation reaction occurs at high temperature and pressure in the presence of peroxide as catalyst. The silane molecule was grafted onto soybean oil backbone and on curing with water gave coating materials with water resistant property. Biobased products containing different molar ratios of soybean oil and silane were synthesized and characterized. The silylated soybean oil was coated on the substances and the coating performances evaluated. These coating materials were evaluated for biodegradability and showed that they were biodegradable under aqueous conditions. Biodegradability of these coating materials was also measured to demonstrate that these materials were biodegradable These coating materials are recommended as protective coatings for water sensitive substances, such as wood, paper and starch foams.
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