Verónica L. Mucci¹, M. E. Victoria Hormaiztegui², Mirta I. Aranguren^1,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.8, No.6, pp. 579-601, 2020, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2020.09455 - 12 May 2020

Abstract The increasing pressure from consumers and policy makers to reduce the use of synthetic polymers, whose production contributes to the depletion of non-renewable resources and are usually non- biodegradable, has prompted the efforts to find suitable bio-based sources for the production of polymers. Vegetable oils have been a frequently spotted in this search because they are versatile, highly available and a low cost liquid biosource, which can be used in the synthesis of a wide plethora of different polymers and reactive monomers. Following the same idea of reducing the environmental stress, the traditional polyurethanes that… More >

Md. Anwar Hossain^1,2, Lee Hwei Voon^1,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.8, pp. 731-748, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.04703

Abstract Synthesizing polyol-based ester from biomass feedstocks for the preparation of biolubricant overcomes the dependence on petroleum oil usage. Albeit biomass-derived bio-oil is an alternative for the production of polyol ester, upgrading is essential prior to use as biolubricant. Levulinic acid (LA), obtained from bio-oil was applied for the catalytic esterification with two polyols, e.g., trimethylolpropane (TMP) and pentaerythritol (PE), in the presence of mixed-ligand Ni(II), Co(II), and Fe(II) complexes as catalyst. New mixed-ligand coordination complexes with empirical formula; [Ni(Phe)(Bpy)Cl].H2O, [Co(Phe)(Bpy)Cl].H2O, and [Fe(Phe)(Tyr)Cl].H2O were synthesized by the reaction of ligands [L-phenylalanine (Phe), 4,4'-bipyridine (Bpy), and L-tyrosine More >

Silvia Helena Fuentes da Silva¹, Patricia Soares Bilhalva dos Santos², Darci Alberto Gatto³, Maria Angeles Andres¹, Itziar Egüés^1,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.6, pp. 527-534, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.04291

Abstract Kraft lignin was liquefied using polyethylene glycol #400 (PEG) and glycerol (G) in a weight ratio of 80/20 (w/w) and sulphuric acid (SA) as catalyst under atmospheric pressure at 160ºC. The three independent variables: reaction time (60, 80 and 100 min), percentage of lignin (15, 20 and 25%, w/w), and catalyst concentration (0, 3 and 6%, w/w), were varied resulting in 27 experimental runs. The effect of these reaction conditions on the properties of the polyols was evaluated. The statistical analysis showed that only “the percentage of lignin” did not influence the properties of the More >

Azam Sardari^1,2, Ali Asghar Sabbagh Alvani^1,2,3,*, Seyed Reza Ghaffarian^1,2

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.1, pp. 31-40, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.00045

Abstract In this study, three sorts of polyols were successfully synthesized from castor oil using a Dean-Stark quick, eco-friendly and high-efficiency method. For this purpose, castor oil was epoxidized in the presence of two types of catalysts including γ-alumina and formic acid, named as ECOAl and ECOF, respectively. Epoxidized castor oils were then characterized by use of hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance (H-NMR) and oxirane oxygen content analysis. The relative percentages of conversion double bond to oxirane were obtained 96% and 74% for ECOAl and ECOF, respectively. Ring opening reaction of ECOAl was performed by two types More >

Xiaojian Zhou^1,2, Hui Wang¹, Jun Zhang², Zhifeng Zheng¹, Guanben Du^1,2,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.1, pp. 68-74, 2018, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634150

Abstract Pineapple leaf nanofibers (PLNFs) extracted from pineapple leaf fiber were used for reinforcing biobased polyurethane foam (BPU). The dispersion performance of PLNF in the foaming mixture system, nanocomposite foaming behavior, cell morphology, cell size, density, compressive strength and dimensional stability were investigated. The viscosity of the mixtures increased with increasing the PLNF content. The addition of a tiny amount of PLNF did not influence the exothermic temperature of the foam system, but reduced the expansion and gel time of the nanocomposite foams. This reduced time was found to increase the production efficiency. Scanning electron More >

A. Abolins*, V. Yakushin and D. Vilsone

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.7, pp. 737-745, 2018, DOI:10.32604/JRM.2018.00119

Abstract Linseed oil was epoxidized using hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), acetic acid (AcOH) and ion exchange resin Amberlite IR-120 as a catalyst. Epoxidized oil was separately dissolved in isopropyl alcohol (IPA) or diethylene glycol butyl ether (DGBE) and phosphorylated with different amounts of phosphoric (H3PO4) acid (1%, 2%, 3% and 5%). The formation of phosphate polyesters was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra. Based on the synthesized polyols, polyurethane (PU) coatings were prepared. PU coating based on linseed oil diethylene glycol ester polyol was used as the reference. For the characterization More >

Stephany C. de Rezende^1,2, João A. Pinto^1,3, Isabel P. Fernandes^1,3, Fernanda V. Leimann^1,2* and Maria-Filomena Barreiro^1,3*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.7, pp. 715-723, 2018, DOI:10.32604/JRM.2018.00028

Abstract Pine-fruit shell (PFS) is a lignocellulosic residue derived from the fruit of Araucaria angustifolia, a coniferous tree native of South America, part of a whole vegetation of the Atlantic Forest, found in the South and Southwest of Brazil. In this work PFS will be characterized and used in the production of PFS-based polyols through oxypropylation. Three series were chosen (PFS/propylene oxide (PO) (w/v, g/mL) of 30/70, 20/80 and 10/90) with four catalyst levels (5%, 10%, 15% and 20%, (w/w, PFS based)). Oxypropylation occurred at moderate conditions of temperature, pressure and time giving rise to liquid… More >

Hynek Beneš, Aleksandra Paruzel*, Jiří Hodan and Olga Trhlíková

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.7, pp. 697-706, 2018, DOI:10.32604/JRM.2018.00011

Abstract In this study, castor oil, rapeseed oil and medium chain triglycerides of coconut oil, were transesterified by means of 2-ethyl-2-hydroxymethyl-1,3-propanediol (trimethylolpropane) and consequently used to convert polycarbonate waste from end-of-life vehicles into liquid polyols. The prepared recycled polyols, composed uniquely of renewable and recycled components, had a hydroxyl number of ca. 250 mg KOH·g−1. They were successfully applied as 100% replacement of a virgin polyol for preparation of solid crosslinked polyurethanes (PU) by solvent-free casting. The produced rigid cast PU exhibited the main transition temperature ranging from 44°C to 53°C, the hardness value from 46 More >

Edgars Vanags*, Mikelis Kirpluks, Ugis Cabulis and Zuzana Walterova

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.7, pp. 764-771, 2018, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2018.634111

Abstract In this work, free tall oil fatty acids were epoxidized with in-situ generated peroxyacetic acid. Reaction kinetics of epoxidation was investigated by oxirane content and iodine value titrimetric determination, as well as FTIR spectra analysis. A highly functional biobased polyol was synthesized by functionalizing epoxidized tall oil fatty acids with triethanolamine using Montmorillonite K10 as a catalyst. The obtained polyol was analyzed by FTIR and MALDI-TOF MS. The most common chemical and physical characteristics of obtained polyol were determined. More >

Maha L. Shrestha^1,2,*, Mihail Ionescu¹, Xianmei Wan¹, Thomas Upshaw³

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.6, pp. 630-641, 2018, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2018.634106

Abstract Aromatic-aliphatic polyols were obtained previously from the thiol-ene reactions of propoxylated cardanol with hydroxyalkyl mercaptans; these aromatic-aliphatic polyols were then utilized in the preparation of rigid polyurethane foams with excellent properties. The current work describes a variant of cardanol polyol synthesis by thiol-ene reactions in three steps. The first step is propoxylation of cardanol by reacting cardanol with propylene oxide; the second step is mercaptanization of propoxylated cardanol by reacting double bonds with hydrogen sulfide; and the third step involves the addition of the thiol groups of mercaptanized propoxylated cardanol to the double bonds of More >