Fuente: Journal of applied polymer Lugar: RESEARCH ARTICLE This study aims to develop a new type of bio-based flexible epoxy resin composite to overcome the problems of brittleness and insufficient corrosion resistance of traditional epoxy resins.

ABSTRACT
This study is dedicated to developing a novel bio-based flexible epoxy resin composite to address the issues of brittleness and inadequate corrosion resistance in traditional epoxy resins. First, a vulcanized eucommia rubber-tung oil composite (S-ERTO) was prepared. This involved a two-step process: the Diels–Alder (D–A) reaction followed by vulcanization. Subsequently, different contents of S-ERTO were introduced into the epoxy resin system to obtain modified epoxy resins. After that, a comprehensive evaluation of the epoxy resins was carried out, with a particular focus on their flexibility and corrosion resistance. The results indicated that once the S-ERTO was cured with the epoxy resin, a distinctive cross-linked network structure was formed. This structure endowed the system with enhanced comprehensive properties. Specifically, when the S-ERTO content was 15%, the flexibility of the modified epoxy resin was remarkably improved. The elongation at break reaching 58.04% served as clear evidence of this improvement. Moreover, the electrochemical impedance of the composite reached 2.69 × 1012 Ω·cm2, and the water contact angle increased from 75° to 110.01°. In the neutral salt-spray test, the composite also demonstrated excellent corrosion-resistant performance. In conclusion, the epoxy resin modification strategy based on bio-based materials proposed in this study offers a new approach for preparing high-performance, flexible, and corrosion-resistant epoxy resin composites. It holds broad application prospects in fields such as flexible electronics and marine anti-corrosion.