Vegetable oils in production of polymers and plastics

XiAOHUA Kong Agri-Food Materials Science Centre, University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Vegetable Oils in Production of Polymers and Plastics. 

Narine, S.S. X. Kong. Vegetable oils in production of polymers and plastics. Bailey s Industrial Oil Fat Products, Sixth ed. F. Shahidi, Ed. John Wiley Sons, Inc. Hoboken, NJ, 2004 Vol. 6, pp. 279-306. 

Polymers Unsaturated fatty-acid chains offer opportunities for polymerisation that can be exploited to develop uses in surface coatings and plastics manufacturing. Polyunsaturated fatty acids can be dimerised to produce feedstocks for polyamide resin (nylon) production. Work is also ongoing to develop polyurethanes from vegetable oils through manipulation of functionality in the fatty-acid chains, to produce both rigid foams and elastomers with applications in seals, adhesives and moulded flexible parts (see Chapter 5 for more information). 

The value and use of different vegetable oils in non-food applications depends on their composition. For polymer production this means long carbon chain lengths are needed. The major use of biopolymers has so far been in the packaging industry, with plastics made from using sugar beet (to produce polygonic acid) or starch to produce polylactic acid (PLA). Starch can also be used... 

In polymer applications derivatives of oils and fats, such as epoxides, polyols and dimerizations products based on unsaturated fatty acids, are used as plastic additives or components for composites or polymers like polyamides and polyurethanes. In the lubricant sector oleochemically-based fatty acid esters have proved to be powerful alternatives to conventional mineral oil products. For home and personal care applications a wide range of products, such as surfactants, emulsifiers, emollients and waxes, based on vegetable oil derivatives has provided extraordinary performance benefits to the end-customer. Selected products, such as the anionic surfactant fatty alcohol sulfate have been investigated thoroughly with regard to their environmental impact compared with petrochemical based products by life-cycle analysis. Other product examples include carbohydrate-based surfactants as well as oleochemical based emulsifiers, waxes and emollients. 

Plasticizers, which are added to improve the flexibility, softness and processibility of plastics, constitute a broad range of chemically and thermally stable products of a variety of chemical classes. Their principal use is in thermoplastic resins, and 80-85% of the world s production of plasticizers are used in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) manufacturing. Approximately 450 plasticizers are commercially available. Many are esters of carboxylic acids (e.g. phthalic, isophthalic, adipic, benzoic, abietic, trimellitic, oleic, sebacic acids) or phosphoric acid. Other plasticizers are chlorinated paraffins, epoxidized vegetable oils and adipate polymers. 

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