Study of the impact of epoxidized plant oil phospholipids and hydroxyl radicals on crosslinked epoxy resins

The detrimental environmental consequences of global plastic pollution and the imperative transition, by following the key principles of sustainable development, fully tap the use of renewable feedstocks such as vegetable oil to utilize their functionalities over fossil‐based resources. The current research has developed a novel biobased additive obtained as a byproduct through aromatization of epoxidized corn oil (ECO) using diglycidyl ether aromatic compounds of epoxy resin (EP). The hybrid matrix was made with an ECO content ranging from 10% to 50%. Spectral, elemental, mechanical property, thermal, morphological, and fire hazards analyses revealed that the experimental results of the EPECO50 blend had a 34.94% hydrogen and oxygen added content, resulting in a 62% decrease in flammability when compared to a conventional petroleum‐based mix. Interestingly, the established presence of phospholipids and significant adsorption in the hydroxyl bands support the good intrinsic flame retardancy capabilities of the blend. As a result of the proposed synthesis mechanism, the covalent bonding between epoxy and ECO suggests lower toxicity, as shown by cone calorimetry, with a high reduced yield of CO2 (99%) and CO (98%) and, more importantly, the blend is a potential green flame retardant biobased additive. In practice, people die in a fire due to the lack of oxygen and inhalation of harmful smoke; hence, the reduction in total smoke production and CO2 and CO emissions clearly helps the smoke suppression of epoxy thermosets when potentially reinforced with biocomposites.