Bio-based coatings are covered in a number of papers at the Conference. One such paper was by Senthilkumar Rengasamy from Eastern Michigan University, titled Surface Modification of Green Coatings with Smart Non-Polar Binders. In the last few years, special attempts have been made by scientists around the world to design smart coatings that combine standard properties such as mechanical and chemical resistance with additional effects on oleo and water repellency. In this research work, an advanced aqueous polyurethane system was developed from polyether polyol, which was synthesized from renewable resources.

A second paper was presented by Thomas Nelson of North Dakota State University. His paper, which was a Roon Award winner, was titled Catalyzed Crosslinking of Highly Functional Biobased Resins. Crosslinking reactions involving the thermal polymerization of 100% bio-based epoxidized sucrose esters (ESEs) were studied and the resulting coatings properties were compared against epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) and petrochemical soybean analogs. The low viscosity of ESEs allowed for formulations to be developed with negligible volatile organic content. ESEs were found to have superior coatings properties compared to ESO and the petrochemical soybean analogs, which was attributed to a higher glass transition temperature (Tg) and a higher modulus. In order to further enhance the coatings properties, small amounts of bisphenol A epoxy resin were added which resulted in higher moduli and Tgs. The degree of conversion and optimization of the curing conditions were studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques.