The Relationship Between the End‐Group Structure of Levulinic Acid Esters and Its Lubrication Properties in the Production of Acrylonitrile–Butadiene–Styrene Resins

ABSTRACT The research on ester‐based lubricants for acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) resins has not yet received enough attention, and the structure–property relationship remains unknown. In this paper, 1,11‐undecanediol levulinate (LAUD) and its ketalized derivative (K‐LAUD) were successfully prepared as two ester‐based lubricants for ABS, and the influence of the end‐group structure on the lubrication properties was thoroughly evaluated. Both ABS/LAUD and ABS/K‐LAUD were prepared by extrusion. Compared with ABS/LAUD, ABS/K‐LAUD exhibited significantly lower glass transition temperature ( T g ), complex viscosity, and surface roughness. The tensile test results suggested that the elongation at break of ABS/K‐LAUD increased by 23.3% compared to ABS/LAUD. This revealed that K‐LAUD with ketal end‐groups displayed enhanced lubrication properties in ABS. The lubrication mechanism was further proposed with molecular dynamic simulations. This could be primarily attributed to the unique ketal structure of K‐LAUD, which offered abundant nucleophilic sites and a stronger binding energy with the polymer matrix. Furthermore, the presence of the 1,3‐dioxane ring remarkably enlarged the free volume of the matrix and facilitated the molecular chain disentanglement, thus resulting in improved mobility and diffusivity of molecular chains. This work filled the research gap of structure–property relationships of ester‐based lubricants for ABS and provided an academic foundation for the design of ester‐based lubricants.