Biobased Epoxy Blends from Epoxidized Castor Oil: Effect on Mechanical, Thermal, and Morphological Properties

In the present study, in-situ epoxidation was employed to prepare epoxidized castor oil (ECO). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectra analysis were used to analyze the chemical structures of ECO. Biobased epoxy blends were synthesized from diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) and ECO at variable wt% using triethylenetetramine as curing agent. The thermal, mechanical and morphological behavior of blends has been investigated. The morphological study showed homogeneous mixing of the ECO and DGEBA blends. The blend prepared using 20 wt% of ECO showed optimum impact and flexural strength as compared with commercially available epoxy resin. The fracture toughness parameters, critical stress intensity (K-IC) and the critical strain of blends were also observed to increase as compared with the virgin matrix which revealed enhancement in toughness. The tensile property of the blend reduced with the increasing ECO content which confirmed the fact that the addition of the high amount of ECO reduces the crosslink density of the biobased epoxy.