Polymers based on renewable sources are promising materials, and can find many uses in coatings and adhesive applications. The goal of this work was to synthesize and characterize bio-based styrene/acrylated fatty acid methyl ester (AFAME) copolymer-poly(styrene-co-AFAME) prepared by miniemulsion polymerization. The main strategy adopted was to functionalize the bio-monomer with acrylic acid that was confirmed by H-1 NMR and FTIR measurements, to allow its free-radical homo-or copolymerization with styrene. Poly(styrene-co-AFAME) with different AFAME content were obtained and their composition were evaluated by H-1 NMR. Dynamic light scattering measurements throughout the reactions have indicated a very stable colloidal systems and average particles size ranges 100-150 nm. The structural and physical properties of poly(styrene-co-AFAME) were investigated by DTG-DTA, DSC which displayed a decreasing of glass transition temperature with increase of AFAME content. The results showed in this study have indicated that the poly(styrene-co-AFAME) can be used in several fields because their characteristics are totally distinct. (C) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.