Synthesis and Characterization of Poly (ester-amide) of Adipic Acid and Fatty Amide of Melia Azedarach Seed Oil – An Eco-friendly Resource

Abstract

Abstract.Synthesis of polymeric materials from renewable resources has attracted the attention of researcher worldwide as they are not only reducing the dependency on petrochemicals, a finite resource but also friendly to the environment. Synthesis of valuable polymers from non-conventional and non-edible vegetable oils solves the problem of waste disposal as well as bringing down the cost of end products. Melia azedarach seed oil (MASO), a non-traditional, non-edible and abundantly available resource is utilized for the synthesis of poly (ester-amide) (MAPEAA) by the aminolysis with diethanolamine followed by step-growth polymerization with adipic acid. The MAPEAA polymeric resin was characterized by physic-chemical analyses as per standard reported laboratory methods. The structural elucidation of the resin was carried out by spectral analyses. Physicomechanical and chemical/corrosion resistance performances of the resin were also investigated. Keywords:Melia azedarach seed oil, renewable resource, vegetable oil, Poly (ester-amide) IntroductionThere have been potential demands worldwide for replacing petroleum based raw materials with the renewable ones [1][2][3]. This is quite significant from the societal and environmental points of view. Among different renewable resources vegetable oils obtained from seeds of various plants are in the spotlight of the chemical industries as they are the abundantly available in nature and also show low eco-toxicity as well as low-toxicity towards humans [4,5]. Common traditional seed oils such as linseed, sunflower, castor, soybean, coconut are being largely used in the synthesis of polymers like alkyds, epoxies, polyurethanes, interpenetrating polymer networks (IPN)s, poly (ester-amide)s and many others [4,[6][7][8][9][10]. These polymers are extensively used as coatings, adhesives, insulators and biomedical structures. However, among afore mentioned traditional oils some of them possess medicinal values and are edible too [11,12]. Therefore, it is important to explore the gift of the nature and utilize the non-edible and non-conventional seed oils as starting raw materials for the development polymers, which ultimately reduce the demands of conventional vegetable oils. Melia azedarach belongs to the family meliaceae largely cultivated in rural areas due to its valuable wood [13,14]. The seeds of plants contain about 40-wt % triglyceride oil with sufficiently high iodine value, which provide the film formation ability to the synthesized polymers [13,14]. Meagre utilization of Melia azedarach seed oil, especially in the polymer syntheses encourages us to utilize this triglyceride oil in the synthesis of poly(ester-amide) using adipic acid as a dibasic acid [14][15][16].Poly (ester-amide)s of vegetable oil origin are amide modified alkyds and have hybrid properties of both functionalities pendent amide and repeating ester; consequently show better performances than normal alkyds in terms of hardness, water vapor resistance and corrosion resistance [9,12]. In present work eff...