Evaluation and Improvement of Bio-Based Sustainable Resin Derived from Formic-Acid-Modified Epoxidized Soybean Oil for Packaging Applications

Bio-based epoxy resin materials have obtained significant attention in the packaging industry due to concerns about the environmental and economic impacts of traditional petroleum-based plastics. The aim of this research is to improve bio-based resins' properties by investigating varying formic acid contents in the presence of a green catalyst and characterizing their physical, chemical, and mechanical properties for further scaled-up bio-based resin production for industrial packaging applications. The crude soybean oil was epoxidized with formic acid as an oxidizing agent at varying equivalent weights of 10:1 to 10:10 of soybean oil: formic acid in the presence of hydrogen peroxide and choline chloride-oxalic acid as a bi-functional green catalyst. The effect of increasing the amount of formic acid used to epoxidize crude soybean oil was evaluated with infrared (IR) spectroscopy, rheological, and epoxy yield measurements. The results demonstrated that formic acid significantly influenced the epoxidation of soybean oil, leading to a higher conversion of carbon-carbon double bonds, with a selectivity of 98% when the ratio of soybean oil to formic acid was between 10:5 and 10:10. The bio-resin film was formulated using the improved epoxidized soybean oils-from ESO (10:2.5) to ESO (10:10)-and equal amounts of acrylic acid. The results showed that resin films led to an improvement in tensile strength (ca. 180 MPa) and thermal stability at 360 °C. Although further research is necessary, this study provides valuable insights for designing an effective epoxidation process for renewable sources and developing bio-resin materials for future packaging applications.

Rapeseed oil-based hippurate amide nanocomposite coating material for anticorrosive and antibacterial applications

Industrial crops and products have proved to be an excellent alternative to petro-based chemicals. Vegetable oils are rich in functional groups that can be transformed into monomers and polymers with applications such as biodiesel, lubricants, inks, coatings, and paints. This study describes the synthesis of rapeseed oil (RO)-based esteramide for the first time. The reaction was carried out by amidation of RO, producing diol fatty amide (N,N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl) RO fatty amide), followed by its esterification reaction with hippuric acid, resulting in RO-based hippurate amide (ROHA). Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance confirmed the introduction of amide and ester moieties in ROHA. ROHA was further reinforced with silver nanoparticles (SNPs) to develop corrosion-protective nanocomposite coatings. ROHA/SNP coatings were scratch-resistant, impact-resistant, and flexible and showed good corrosion resistance performance toward 3.5 w/w% NaCl medium, with adequate corrosion protection efficiency, and antimicrobial behavior against Staphylococcus aureus, Chromobacterium violaceum, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida albicans. ROHA/SNP coatings can be safely used up to 250°C.

Rapeseed oil gallate-amide-urethane coating material: Synthesis and evaluation of coating properties

The present manuscript describes the synthesis of urethane (ROGAU) coating material from Rapeseed oil (RO), Gallic acid (GA) and Toluylene-2,4-diisocyanate [TDI], for the first time. The reaction was accomplished in the following steps: (i) amidation of RO, producing diol fatty amide, HERA, followed by (ii) gallation reaction of HERA with GA, resulting in RO-based gallate amide (ROGA). The structural elucidation by FTIR and NMR confirmed the insertion of amide and ester moieties in the ROGA backbone. To add applicational value to ROGA, it was then derivatized by urethanation reaction with TDI to develop ambient temperature-cured ROGAU, as a corrosion protective coating material. ROGAU coatings were scratch resistant, well-adherent, and flexible to a considerable extent and showed good corrosion resistance performance toward saline medium (3.5 wt% NaCl). ROGAU coatings can be safely used up to 200°C.