Abstract
Bio-based epoxy materials were prepared from epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) with an anhydride-curing agent. Variation of anhydride/epoxy ratio (R) was found to have significant effect on the resulting properties of the materials. The properties were studied and compared by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), izod impact, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The glass transition temperature reaches the maximum at stoichiometric ratio related to the cross-link density of the formed networks. These materials are thermally stable but exhibit a rapid decrease as the anhydride/epoxy ratio was increased.