Polymerization of Oriental Lacquer (Urushi) with Epoxidized Linseed Oil as a New Reactive Diluent

Abstract

A hybrid lacquer (HBL) paint prepared by combining a natural kurome lacquer (KL) paint and an amino silane reagent, for example,N-(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane (AATES), produced a polymerized film faster than the KL paint alone. However, the viscosity of the HBL paint was too viscous for easy handling. Addition of 10 wt% of an epoxidized linseed oil, ELO-6, with 6.4 mol% epoxidation as a reactive diluent to the HBL paint decreased the viscosity by 1/2 from 25476 mPa·s to 12841 mPa·s and improved the ease of coatability. The polymerization mechanism was elucidated by NMR measurements of extracts from the resulting polymerization films, suggesting that amino groups in the HBL paint reacted with epoxy groups of ELO-6 in the lacquer matrix, and then the complex reacted with double bonds of the urushiol side-chain by autooxidation and cross-linking reactions to give a hard polymerized film with a high quality of color and gloss. These results indicate that the addition of ELO-6 improved the polymerizability of both KL and HBL paints without decreasing the quality of the resulting films.