| Polymeric materials developed from renewable resources such as vegetable oils are finding numerous applications in recent years. The fatty acid esters derived from the triglyceride vegetable oils are attractive source of raw materials for polymer synthesis. Among the triglyceride oils, soybean oil attracts great interest because of high degree of unsaturation which makes it possible to polymerize into useful structural materials. The focus of this research is to characterize soy-based epoxy resin system and to manufacture soy-based nanocomposites. Epoxidized allyl soyate was synthesized by the process of transesterfication and epoxidation of regular food grade soybean oil. The results of dynamic mechanical analysis showed that soy-based epoxy resin can efficiently dampen vibrations for a wide range of temperatures and frequencies. Studies on the fracture behavior of soy-based resin showed that resins with higher molecular weight between crosslinks have higher fracture toughness. Nanocomposites were synthesized using montmorillonite clay and soy-based epoxy resin. X-ray diffraction patterns revealed higher degree of exfoliation of clay platelets. Nanocomposites showed improvement in mechanical, rheological, thermal, and dielectric properties as compared to virgin resin system. This research demonstrates that soy-based resin hold great potential for environmentally friendly and low cost raw materials and is a viable alternative to petroleum based materials. |
