Hemjyoti Kalita

Biobased epoxy blends from epoxidized castor oil: Effect on mechanical, thermal, and morphological properties

In the present study, in-situ epoxidation was employed to prepare epoxidized castor oil (ECO). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectra analysis were used to analyze the chemical structures of ECO. Biobased epoxy blends were synthesized from diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) and ECO at variable wt% using triethylenetetramine as curing agent. The thermal, mechanical and morphological behavior of blends has been investigated. The morphological study showed homogeneous mixing of the ECO and DGEBA blends. The blend prepared using 20 wt% of ECO showed optimum impact and flexural strength as compared with commercially available epoxy resin. The fracture toughness parameters, critical stress intensity (KIC) and the critical strain of blends were also observed to increase as compared with the virgin matrix which revealed enhancement in toughness. The tensile property of the blend reduced with the increasing ECO content which confirmed the fact that the addition of the high amount of ECO reduces the crosslink density of the biobased epoxy.

Synthesis and Characterization of Vegetable Oil Based Polyurethane Derived from Low Viscous Bio Aliphatic Isocyanate: Adhesion Strength to Wood-Wood Substrate Bonding

In the current study, biobased polyurethane (PU) adhesives at three different stoichiometric ratios of hard (NCO) to soft segment (OH) (1.1:1, 1.3:1, 1.5:1) were prepared by reacting castor oil (CO) based polyol with partially biobased polyisocyanate (PBPI) in the presence of dibutyltin dilaurate (DBTDL) as catalyst. The synthesis of PU adhesive films such as CO-PU1.1:1, CO-PU1.3:1, and CO-PU1.5:1 was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The effect of stoichiometric ratios on the bonding strength of wood-to-wood substrate was studied using lap shear strength test. The change in lap shear strength of PU adhesive films subjected to acid and alkali solution was tested. The chemical resistance, surface properties and wetting energies of PU adhesive films were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis and contact angle measurement. Thermal stability and activation energy of the films were determined employing thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The experimental result showed that CO-PU1.3:1 exhibited higher adhesive strength, where as CO-PU1.5:1 exhibited higher thermal stability.

Damage tolerance behaviour of cloisite 15A incorporated recycled polypropylene nanocomposites and bionanocomposites

ABSTRACT In the present investigation, recycled polypropylene (rPP) used as a matrix was modified by incorporating nanofillers through melt blending technique to prepare a masterbatch of nanocomposites. Untreated sisal fibre and mercerised sisal fibres were further incorporated into the nanocomposites for the preparation of bionanocomposites. Bionanocomposites containing 40 wt% of UT fibre and 5 wt% of MA-g-PP revealed an increase in the tensile strength and modulus to the tune of 27% and 370%, respectively, compared to rPP. The flexural strength and modulus also increased to the tune of 129% and 269%, respectively, compared to rPP. Further, the surface treatment of the fibre slightly increased the mechanical properties and stiffness of bionanocomposites. Interfacial strength between fibre and matrix was also evaluated by using Turcsanyi and Sato–Furukawa models. Damage tolerance of rPP nanocomposites and its bionanocomposites was evaluated using single-edge-notch specimens. The notch length ‘a’ to width ‘W’ ratios, a/W, were chosen as 0.3, 0.45 and 0.6. The nanocomposites showed better damage tolerance as compared to the rPP matrix. The corrugated structure with increased fractured surface area was observed in scanning electron microscopy. Better dispersion of clay in the nanocomposites was observed in transmission electron microscopy.

Meticulous study on curing kinetics of green polyurethane-clay nanocomposite adhesive derived from plant oil: Evaluation of decomposition activation energy using TGA analysis

ABSTRACT Biobased polyurethane nanocomposite (PUNC) adhesive containing 3 wt% of organically modified montmorillonite (OMMT) nanoclay was prepared; wherein the reference material consisting of partially biobased aliphatic isocyanate derived from palm oil and soft segment derived from castor oil (CO) as well as transesterified castor oil (TECO). The TECO was confirmed using proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1HNMR) study. Further, the corresponding molecular weight (Mw) of CO and TECO was determined using GPC analysis. Afterwards, the formation of the chemical shift values of chemical functions such as ester, urethane linkages were detected by I3C-NMR spectroscopy. A non isothermal analysis of PUNC was studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) at three different heating rates of 5, 7.5 and 10°C/min. The curing kinetics parameters such as activation energy () and least square values were calculated by employing Ozawa model which indicated the molecular mobility of the system under curing in the presence of montmorillonite. The result depicted that the Ozawa model was suitable to calculate the progression of conversion in PUNC adhesive with good accuracy. Further, the thermal stability of the unfilled PU and PUNC adhesive was studied by thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) and corresponding decomposition energy values were determined using Coats and Redfern method.

Biobased epoxy/carbon fiber composites: Effect on mechanical, thermo-mechanical and morphological properties

ABSTRACT Biobased epoxy was synthesized from diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) and epoxidized castor oil (ECO) at a ratio of 80:20. Carbon fiber (CF) was used as a reinforcing agent to fabricate composites using biobased epoxy as matrix. Mechanical, Thermal and morphological properties of neat epoxy and biobased epoxy composites were investigated. Mechanical test results revealed that the composites prepared using five plies were higher than those with three plies and one ply respectively. This phenomenon revealed the effective reinforcing effect of carbon fiber due to its higher strength and higher crosslinking density. The composites also demonstrate high damping behavior as compared with neat epoxy and biobased epoxy blend. With increasing number of plies the composites thermal properties also shows an improvement. The SEM micrographs of the composites depicted that the biobased epoxy was fully adhered to the carbon fiber, thus representing a strong interface between CF/epoxy matrix.

Castor oil modified by epoxidation, transesterification, and acrylation processes: Spectroscopic characteristics

ABSTRACT In the present study, castor oil (CO) was modified by epoxidation, transesterification, and acrylation processes. In situ epoxidation method was used to prepare epoxidized castor oil (ECO) in acetic acid with hydrogen peroxide in the presence of Seralite SRC-120 catalyst. Transesterified epoxidized castor oil was synthesized from the reaction of methanol in the presence of sodium methoxide catalyst. The acrylated epoxidized castor oil was synthesized from the reaction of ECO with acrylic acid containing hydroquinone. Chemical structures of modified CO were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectra analysis.