Vegetable oil-based polymer composites

Key words vegetable oil-based polymer composites, preparation of polymer composites, properties of polymer composites, appUcation of polymer composites. 

Polymer composites consist of the physical combination of two or more materials of the same or different categories (one of which must be polymer), forming a multi-phasic system with superior properties to the individual components, which do not lose their own identity. The components of a composite are physically separable. Of these two phases, one is a continuous phase or matrix, which is the polymer, and the other is a dispersed phase 

Composite materials made with natural fibres such as hemp, flax, ramie, banana, jute or chicken feathers as the reinforcing agents, and 

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The physical properties of some important synthetic and natural fibres generally used in vegetable oil-based polymer composites are tabulated in Table 10.1. 

Various tests and analytical methods are used for the characterisation and evaluation of the properties of vegetable oil-based polymer composites. Mechanical tests for properties such as tensile, flexural, compressive, impact, hardness and wear are carried out by a universal testing machine (UTM), and by equipment for testing impact, hardness, abrasion loss, and so on. Weather and chemical resistance tests are performed in UV/ozone, an artificial environmental chamber and in different chemical media. Water uptake and biodegradability tests are carried out by standard ASTM methods. Biodegradability and biocompatibility may be studied by the same procedure as described in Chapter 2. However, in practice only a few such studies have been performed for vegetable oil-based composites. 

A large number of vegetable oil-based polymer composites have been reported in the literature. Among these, polyester, polyurethane and epoxies are very important and are discussed in the following sub-sections. 

Researchers are exploring the feasibility of manufacturing epoxidised vegetable oil-based polymer composites. Composite materials have been manufactured utilising vegetable oil-based epoxy resins and a range of... 

Are synthetic or natural fibres preferred as reinforcing agents for vegetable oil-based polymer composites Give reasons for your answer. 

What are the different techniques generally used for the preparation of vegetable oil-based polymer composites ... 

Compare the performance of the following vegetable oil-based polymer composite systems (i) Mesua ferrrea L. seed oil-based polyurethane resin with jute fibre and (ii) linseed oil-based polyurethane with jute fibre. 

The basic differences between vegetable oil-based polymer composites and nanocomposites are given in Table 11.1. 

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