Biodegradable biobased epoxy resin from karanja oil

Biobased epoxy resin thermosets were synthesized from karanja oil (non-edible oil). The karanja oil was first epoxidized using H2O2 and acetic acid. This epoxidized oil was then reacted with biobased acids, such as citric acid forming Bioepoxy CA and tartaric acid forming Bioepoxy TA These fully biobased epoxy resins were characterized by using spectroscopic techniques, gel permission chromatography, scanning electron microscopy, thermal analysis (TGA, DSC) and tensile strength. Thermogravimetric analysis data revealed that thermal stability of bioepoxy CA and bioepoxy TA resins were comparable with the petroleum based epoxy resins trimethylolpropane triglycidyl ether based (P1-epoxy) and bisphenol A diglycidyl ether based (P2-epoxy). The biodegradability test was conducted using bacterial consortium has revealed that bioepoxy CA degraded up to 82% in 69 days while the bioepoxy TA degraded 95% in 259 days against no biodegradation for P2-epoxy under similar conditions. The larvicidal property of bioepoxy resins was studied against mosquito larvae. Assays revealed that bioepoxy CA has 100% mortality in 24 h while the bioepoxy TA has 34% mortality in 72 h against petroleum epoxy (P1-epoxy) has 100% mortality in 24 h. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.