Synthesis and application of eleostearic acid based plasticizer

This study reports the synthesis of a kind of biomass-based plasticizer: epoxy eleostearic acid catechol ester (EEAE), originating from biomass resources eleostearic acid and catechol by way of esterification and epoxidation. Its effect on the plasticization, mechanical properties and migration resistance of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) film was investigated. The results showed that epoxy groups were covalently bonded on the branched chains of EEAE and the epoxy groups and ester groups of EEAE formed hydrogen bonds with the α-hydrogen of PVC, which had a better plasticizing effect on PVC than commercial diisobutyl phthalate. When the mass of EEAE increased from 0.2 to 0.8 g in PVC films, the glass transition temperature (T _g) decreased from 86.7 to 54°C and the elongation at break of the PVC films increased from 124.24 ± 6.00 to 321.12 ± 6.13%, while the tensile strength decreased from 40.12 ± 1.23 MPa to 19.67 ± 2.33 MPa, which illustrated that EEAE had an efficient plasticizing effect on PVC. The plasticizer showed marginal resistance to volatilization and solvent extraction. The thermal stability and compatibility of PVC films plasticized with EEAE were also improved.