In this work, we have performed a solvent-free, facile synthesis of renewable aromatic monomers, double bond modified vanillin (DV) and double bond modified eugenol (DE). The resulting DV and DE were respectively used as sustainable alternatives for petroleum-based styrene (St) and the diacetone acrylamide–adipic acid dihydrazide (DAAM–ADH) crosslinker to copolymerize with butyl acrylate (BA) to prepare a sustainable, water-borne P(DV–BA–DE) miniemulsion by the miniemulsion polymerization technique. The monomer conversion rate, solid content, gel content and storage stability of the P(DV–BA–DE) miniemulsion were compared with those of the styrene-based P(St–BA–DAAM) emulsion. The results showed that the properties of the P(DV–BA–DE) miniemulsion were comparable to those of the P(St–BA–DAAM) emulsion in terms of the monomer conversion rate, solid content and gel content, and exhibited excellent storage stability. After employing the P(DV–BA–DE) miniemulsion as a leather coating, the air permeability and the tensile strength of the coated leather increased 2.14% and 11.71%, respectively. Furthermore, its antibacterial rates against E. coli (95.15%) and S. aureus (99.99%) were superior to those of the leather coated with the P(St–BA–DAAM) emulsion. The antibacterial mechanism proposed was based on the results of fluorescence confocal microscopy as well as SEM. Overall, this work not only provides new insights into the preparation of a novel, green, water-borne miniemulsion to substitute the styrene-based P(St–BA–DAAM) emulsion, but also provides a sustainable leather coating agent with excellent antibacterial properties, which has great significance for the sustainable development of the leather industry.

The aim of this study was to effectively improve the water resistance of a defatted soybean flour (DSF)-based adhesive by subjecting DSF to thermo-chemical treatment in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and then the crosslinking with epichlorohydrin-modified polyamide (EMPA). The effect of thermo-chemical treatment on the structures and properties of the DSF and DSF-based adhesive were investigated by plywood evaluation, boiling-water-insoluble content, and acetaldehyde value measurements, as well as FTIR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS), X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and rheology analyses. The test results revealed that the water resistance of the DSF-based adhesive was significantly improved, attributed to the formation of a solid three-dimensional crosslinked network structure resulted from the repolymerization of DSF, the Maillard reaction between the protein and carbohydrate, and chemical crosslinking between the crosslinker and DSF. Moreover, SDS destroyed the hydrophobic interactions within protein and inhibited macromolecular aggregations during the thermal treatment. Therefore, more reactive groups buried within the globular structure of the soybean protein component of DSF could be released, which supported the repolymerization, Maillard reaction, and chemical crosslinking of DSF, thereby leading to an improved crosslinking density of the cured DSF-based adhesive. In addition, the adhesive composed of thermo-chemically treated DSF and EMPA exhibited preferable viscosity and viscosity stability suitable for the production of wood composites.