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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Bio-oils Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #318803
Title: Synthesis and application of a natural plasticizer based on cardanol for poly(vinyl chloride)

Author
item CHEN, JIE - Chinese Academy Of Forestry
item Liu, Zengshe - Kevin
item LI, KE - Chinese Academy Of Forestry
item HUANG, JINRUI - Chinese Academy Of Forestry
item NIE, XIAOAN - Chinese Academy Of Forestry
item ZHOU, YONGHONG - Chinese Academy Of Forestry

Submitted to: Journal of Applied Polymer Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/5/2015
Publication Date: 6/4/2015
Citation: Chen, J., Liu, Z., Li, K., Huang, J., Nie, X., Zhou, Y. 2015. Synthesis and application of a natural plasticizer based on cardanol for poly(vinyl chloride). Journal of Applied Polymer Science. 132(35). doi: 10.1002/APP.42465.

Interpretive Summary: In this research, we investigated synthesis of cardanol-based plastizer (cardanol was extracted from cashew nut shell liquid) and its application in poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) to partially replace toxic phthalates. The results show that it is a very promising biobased plasticizer in improving the flexibility, compatibility, and plasticizing efficiency of the PVC.

Technical Abstract: A natural plasticizer with multifunctional groups, similar in structure to phthalates, cardanol derivatives glycidyl ether (CGE) was synthesized from cardanol by a two-step modification process and characterized by FT-IR, 1-HNMR, and 13-CNMR. The resulting product was incorporated to PVC (CGE/PVC), and plasticizing effect was compared with PVC incorporated with two kinds of commercial phthalate ester plasticizers bis (2-ethylhexyl) benzene-1,4-dicarboxylate (DOTP) and diisononyl phthalate (DINP). Dynamic mechanical analysis and mechanical properties testing of the plasticized PVC samples were performed in order to evaluate their flexibility, compatibility, and plasticizing efficiency. SEM was employed to produce fractured surface morphology. Thermogravimetric analysis and discoloration tests were used to characterize the thermal stabilities. Dynamic stability analysis was used to test the processability of formulations. Compared with DOTP and DINP plasticized samples, CGE/PVC has a maximum decrease of 9.27% in glass transition temperature (Tg), a maximum increase of 17.6% in the elongation at break, and a maximum increase of 31.59 deg. C and 25.31 min in 50% weight loss (T50) and dynamic stability time, respectively. The obtained CGE also has slightly lower volatility resistance and higher exudation resistance than that of DOTP and DINP.