Qiaoguang Li¹, Sheng Gong¹, Jie Yan¹, Hongchao Hu¹, Xugang Shu^1,2,*, Hanqing Tong^3,*, Zhiye Cai¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.8, No.3, pp. 289-300, 2020, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2020.08897

Abstract The plasticizer is an important polymer material additive. Non-toxic and environmentally friendly plasticizers are developed recently in order to decrease fossil fuel reserves, serious environmental pollution and the toxicity of phthalate esters. In this study, a new, efficient and environmentally friendly plasticizer of hydrogenated rosin dodecyl ester was prepared by an esterification reaction of hydrogenated rosin and dodecanol. The influences of different reaction conditions (including different catalysts, the catalyst concentration, the ratio of the reactants, reaction temperature, and reaction time) on the esterification yield are examined and discussed. Hydrogenated rosin dodecyl ester with 71.8% yield was synthesized under the optimized… More >

Gouni Thirupathiah¹, Sukanya Satapathy¹, Aruna Palanisamy^1,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.8, pp. 775-785, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.06399

Abstract An acidic cation exchange resin has been used to prepare epoxidised castor oil (ECO) which was used as a co-plasticizer with epoxidised soyabean oil (ESBO) for processing polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The structure of ECO was confirmed and its physico chemical properties were evaluated. PVC/ (ESBO&ECO) blends were prepared by melt mixing and compression molded into sheets. The specimens were evaluated for tensile properties, impact strength and hardness. While the tensile strength did not vary much, the elongation reduced with the replacement of ESBO with ECO. Dynamic mechanical studies revealed that the glass transition temperature increased with incorporation of ECO, however,… More >

E. M. Ciannamea^1,*, L. A. Castillo^2,3, R. A. Ruseckaite¹, S. E. Barbosa^2,3

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.1, pp. 21-30, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.00043

Abstract Blends of gelatin (Ge) plasticized with varying amounts of glycerol (Gly), buffer solution pH 10 and epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) to enhance hydrophobicity were prepared by mixing and injection-molding. Blends were characterized by rheological tests and microscopy to select optimal conditions for scaling up their processing. The effect of each component on rheological response was analyzed using parallel plate geometry. Coating of gelatin specimens with PDMS during rheological tests led to reliable and reproducible results since water evaporation was prevented. A gradual increment in ESO concentration led to blends with increased degree of phase separation, as evidenced by optical and… More >

Karolina Villalobos¹, Hider Rojas¹, Rodolfo González-Paz², Daniel Brenes Granados², Jeimmy González-Masís², José Vega Baudrit^1,3, Yendry Regina Corrales-Ureña^1*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.5, No.3-4, pp. 189-198, 2017, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634109

Abstract Because starch is a biodegradable polymer with low cost and wide availability it is an attractive material for producing edible films for fruits. Films produced with pure starch have the disadvantage of being fragile. To overcome this issue, propolis nanoparticles were used as a novel plasticizer. Mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of the films containing 0.5, 1 and 3 wt.% propolis nanoparticles were evaluated. The best performance was obtained using 0.5 wt.% propolis, increasing the Young’s modulus and decreasing the glass transition temperature (Tg), showing their plasticizing effect. The results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM)… More >

Xiaoying Li¹, Xiaoan Nie^1,2*, Jie Chen¹, Yigang Wang¹, Ke Li¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.5, No.2, pp. 154-164, 2017, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634101

Abstract Cardanol, an agricultural by-product of the industrial processing of cashew, was used to synthesize epoxidized cardanol laurate (ECDL) plasticizer. The target product was characterized using FTIR, 1H NMR and 13C NMR. The plasticizing effect of ECDL substitution for petroleum-based plasticizer dioctyl phthalate (DOP) in soft poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) was investigated using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and mechanical testing, and compared to PVC incorporated with commercial epoxidized soybean oil (ESBO). When DOP was partially substituted by EDCL, there was a slight increase of 5% in glass transition temperature (Tg) and a maximum increase of 14.55% in the elongation… More >

Jose Luis Orellana, Michael Mauhar, Christopher L. Kitchens^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.4, No.5, pp. 340-350, 2016, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2016.634126

Abstract Polylactic acid (PLA) is one of the most widely used biodegradable polymers due to the ability to synthesize it economically at industrial scale and its favorable properties for many consumer products. However, the rigid nature of PLA is not desirable for specific applications, requiring the incorporation of effective bioderived additives in order to enhance the PLA toughness and broaden applications. In this work, PLA was modified by graft polymerization of polyacrylic acid (PLA-g-PAA) to increase the hydrophilicity to promote compatibilization of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) or high molecular polyethylene glycol (PEG). CNCs were found to act as a nucleating agent for… More >

A. Sammaiah¹, K. V. Padmaja¹, K. I. Suresh^*,2, R. B. N. Prasad¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.4, No.2, pp. 113-122, 2016, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2015.634118

Abstract This article reports the effect of epoxidized jatropha oil (EJO) on the thermal, cure and viscoelastic properties of epoxy resins. Epoxidized jatropha oil with an oxirane value of 5.0 was prepared and epoxy formulations containing different concentrations of EJO were evaluated for cure, morphology, thermal and viscoelastic properties. The curing temperature of the formulations increased with increasing EJO content. The glass transition temperature of the cured films decreased from 56 °C for unmodified epoxy resin to 23 °C for the sample with 60 wt% EJO reactive diluent, suggesting good plasticizing action. The thermal decomposition was only marginally affected. More >

Dragomir Vassilev^1*, Nadezhda Petkova², Milena Koleva¹, Panteley Denev²

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.4, No.1, pp. 24-30, 2016, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2015.634125

Abstract This article presents the results obtained by the ultrasound-assisted synthesis of sucrose and fructooligosaccharides (FOS) esters with fatty acids (palmitic and 10-undecylenic), the identifi cation of the products and the study of their possible application as plasticizers in plastics processing. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H and ¹³C NMR) spectroscopy were used to identify the synthesized carbohydrate esters. The plasticizing effect of the sucrose palmitate applied in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) was evaluated by the glass transition temperatures; the decrease of the T_g with the increase of the ester content could be accepted as confi rmation of… More >