Studies on epoxidised castor oil as co-plasticizer with epoxidised soyabean oil for PVC processing

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, the storage modulus was not altered much. Replacing 20% of ESBO with ECO resulted in blends with desired thermal and mechanical properties without affecting the processability of PVC.