Asian Journal of Research in Chemistry

S. Begila David ¹, G. Allen Gnana Raj ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Chemistry, Scott Christian College (Autonomous), Nagercoil, Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu, 629 003, IN

Abstract

An attempt to find alternative ways of producing polymers from non-petroleum oil specifically, soybean oil, was carried out. The idea originated because of the need to produce polymers from renewable oil sources as well as with cost effective materials. The acrylated epoxy resin was obtained by insitu epoxidation of soybean oil under controlled reaction conditions. Two new polymeric materials were prepared by varying the concentration of the comonomers triethyleneglycoldimethacrylate (TEGMA), and Vinylacetate (VA). The new polymeric materials exhibited tensile stress-strain behaviour ranging from soft rubbers to relatively brittle plastics. They were characterized with respect to their resistance to chemical reagents and mechanical properties such as tensile strength, percentage elongation and hardness. Thermal characterization such as differential thermal analysis (DTA) and thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) were carried out. Biodegradability test was carried out using hydrolytic test, chemical resistance test and soil burial test. In soil burial degradation, the polymer sample showed severe surface degradation by the attack of microorganism. These soybean oil based polymers possessed mechanical properties comparable to those of commercially available rubbery materials and conventional plastics and this may serve as replacements in many applications.

Keywords

Biodegradable Polymers, Comonomer, Brittle, Crosslinking, Thermal Analysis.

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S. Begila David ¹, G. Allen Gnana Raj ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Chemistry, Scott Christian College (Autonomous), Nagercoil-629003, Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu, IN

Abstract

The use of annually renewable resources and the biodegradability or recyclability of the product is becoming important criteria. Preparation of groundnut oil based polymeric materials has been investigated. The biodegradable acrylated epoxy resin was prepared by the insitu epoxidation of groundnut oil using controlled reaction conditions. The effect of proceeding conditions on hydroxylation of epoxy resin was evaluated. Acrylated epoxy resin was analysed by IR spectral analysis. Biodegradable pressure sensitive adhesive was prepared using comonomer butylmethacrylate. The effect of comonomer concentration on the peel strength and shear strength of the pressure sensitive adhesive was evaluated . Bacterial adhesion of the adhesive was studied using bacterial strains and the bacterial attack degradation of pressure sensitive adhesive was evaluated. Due to the bacterial adhesion it also serves as a bacteriostat on a plastic surface to prevent the growth of bacteria. The pressure sensitive adhesive can be used in many biomedical applications.

Keywords

Biodegradable Polymers, Comonomer, Pressure Sensitive Adhesive, Antimicrobial Activity.

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