Mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of maleinated acrylated epoxidized palm oil/unsaturated polyester/montmorillonite nanocomposite
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Date
2016
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Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Abstract
The main objective of this study was to develop a new bio-based nanocomposite system from modified palm oil. In the first part of this work, a fully bio-based resin was synthesized from epoxidized palm oil (EPO). The chemical pathways for functionalizing epoxidized palm oil included acrylation and maleinization reactions. The reaction temperature, reaction time and catalyst concentration were varied to investigate their effects on the yield of reaction. The chemical structures of resulting acrylated epoxidized palm oil (AEPO) and maleinated acrylated epoxidized palm oil (MAEPO) were confirmed by Fourier transformed infrared and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy analyses. In the second part, the MAEPO resin was mixed with various amounts of unsaturated polyester resin (UPE) (90%, 80%, 70% and 60 wt%) and montmorillonite nanoclay (MMT) ( 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 phr) to form a series of partial bio-based nanocomposite systems. Studies on their morphology, thermal and mechanical properties were carried out by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, xray diffraction, dynamic mechanical analysis, differential scanning calorimeter, thermal gravimetric analysis, tensile, flexural and impact tests. The optimal reaction condition for the maleinization of AEPO was achieved at 90 °C for a reaction time of 100 min and catalyst content of 2 wt%. In general, the addition of MAEPO reduced the mechanical properties such as stiffness and ultimate tensile stress. On the other hand, it increased toughness parameters, such as impact strength and ductility. Moreover, it was observed that the thermal stability and glass transition temperature of polymer systems decreased by incorporating of MAEPO into UPE. Experimental characterization studies revealed that the incorporation of MMT into UPE/MAEPO polymers improved the thermal and mechanical properties due to the addition of bioresin and could lead to improved stiffness-toughness balance. The morphological studies revealed that the maximum amount of MMT which could be well dispersed into polymer systems was 1.5 phr. Based on the results obtained from experimental characterization, the optimum loading content for MAEPO and MMT was 20 wt% and 1.5 phr, respectively.
Description
Thesis (PhD. (Polymer Engineering))
Keywords
Palm oil—Research, Nanocomposites (Materials)