Synthesis of acrylate epoxidized rice bran oil (AERBO) and its modification using styrene & Shellac to study its properties as a composite material

In this study, rice bran oil and sunn hemp fibre as reinforcement along with shellac and maleic anhydride were used to fabricate composite sheets. Rice bran oil was obtained from agricultural by-product, epoxidation of rice bran oil (ERBO) was carried, and further acrylation was carried to give acrylated epoxidized rice bran oil (AERBO) by chemical synthesis method. ERBO and AERBO were characterized in terms of iodine value conversion, oxirane value conversion, FTIR, and NMR. This synthesized AERBO was applied in composite fabrication along with maleic anhydride and shellac to study mechanical properties. The elongation at beak was highest about 40% for AERBO composite due to rubbery nature and 25% for maleaniated shellac (MS-AERBO) due to the stiff nature. The mechanical strength for AERBO in terms of tensile strength gave 7.9 MPa longitudinal 8.0 MPa transverse direction, and in the case of MS-AERBO values of 33.38 MPa longitudinal and 33. 31 MPa transverse, flexural strength gave values of 9.6 MPa for AERBO, and 26.06 MPa for MS-AERBO, and impact strength of 0.311 Izod and 1.100 Charpy for AERBO and MS-AERBO gave 1.15 and 3.14 for Izod and Charpy, and D shore hardness of 35 for AERBO, and 75 in the case of MS-AERBO composite. Biodegradability was excellent for MS-AERBO composite which showed 14.28% weight loss in 28 days, and dimensional stability was excellent for MS-AERBO (modified shellac with AERBO) composite, and SEM analysis showed close bonding with MS-AERBO composite. Thermal stability and dynamic mechanical analysis were also excellent with respect to MS-AERBO composite, and an increase in storage and loss modulus and decline in Tan δ were seen with MS-AERBO composite as compared to AERBO and polystyrene which showed lower stability. Graphical abstract