An economic infrastructure based on crude oil coupled with dwindling oil reserves has led to extensive research in recent years into bio-based products, minimizing the dependency on petroleum-based products. Soybean oil is a renewable, bio-based material that is readily available domestic crop. Expanding the products they're used for could improve the local economy of rural communities and also enhance the domestic industrial base when used in value-added industrial products. Utilizing the basic unsaturated triglyceride structure of soybean oil and the water-resistant characteristics it demonstrates provides a suitable material for hydrophobic coatings when used in conjunction with siloxane chemistry.Reacting low-saturated soybean oil and vinyl silanes via a high temperature, high pressure alkyl-substituted reaction results in a silylated soy oil product. When this material is exposed to moisture, a chain of Si-O-Si siloxane bonds are formed between the silylated soy oil creating a viscous liquid suitable for coating on various substrates of which provides enhanced hydrophobic properties. For this project, silylated soy oil was evaluated for use on untreated paper for the production of bio-based, biodegradable, waterproof trash bags. Specifically, a portion of the project involved scale-up trials for consideration as a manufactured product.Analysis of the synthesized silylated soy product, assessment of the water resistance provided by the silylated soy oil coatings, and the results and estimated economic model from scale-up trials comprise this thesis.
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