AbstractThe physicomechanical properties, molecular weights, glass transition temperatures, and crosslinking mechanisms of fatty acrylate copolymers consisting of unsaturated bonds in the side chain were studied. The kinetics of the crosslinking mechanism of polymer films was analyzed by isothermal differential scanning calorimetry. The crosslinking rate was slow and influenced more by cobalt catalyst than by lead catalyst. The different physical properties displayed by the polymer films with and without catalysts demonstrated the occurrence of autoxidation. In general, 60 min at 100°C or 2 weeks at room temperature was sufficient time for polymer films reported here to obtain constant physical properties, such as tensile strength, swelling ratios, and percent insoluble polymers. The enhanced tensile strength from crosslinking was not large enough to overcome the lowering of the tensile strength due to plasticization with crosslinkable monomers such as linolenyl acrylate, linoleyl acrylate, and oleyl acrylate. However, non‐crosslinkable lauryl acrylate showed better coalescence at room temperatu