Mustard oil thermosets using N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone as crosslinking agent for scrap paper composites

Presently synthesis of edible oil for resin formation and using scrap paper as reinforcement for composite fabrication is still not carried out. In this work, acrylate epoxidized mustard oil (AEMO) was used after blending with a crosslinker N -Vinyl-2-Pyrrolidone (NVP) to fabricate scrap paper reinforced green composites. Mustard oil (MO), Epoxidized mustard oil (EMO) and acrylate epoxidized mustard oil (AEMO) were characterized using iodine value, oxirane content, acid value, FTIR, NMR and viscosity properties. The composites were fabricated using 50:50 ratio of AEMO: NVP and paper loading of 15%, 30% and 60% along with the neat sample. With an increase in paper loading, there was a significant improvement in mechanical properties giving 158.9, 150, 233, 566.66 and 140% improvement in tensile, young’s, flexural strength, flexural moduli and impact strength at 60% loading. The elongation at break showed a value of 20% due to the stiff nature of composite. Biodegradability testing proved an increase in weight loss of composite with time, recording the highest weight loss of 7% for 60% composite sample. Dimensional stability showed excellent result for the neat and lower loaded composite samples. Thermogravimetric and differential scanning colorimetry analysis indicated improvement in thermal stability with higher loading %. Morphological analysis confirmed excellent interfacial adhesion and bonding with higher paper loading %. Dynamic mechanical analysis demonstrated a significant rise in storage modulus ( E ') and loss modulus ( E '') and decline in tan δ with broadening of the peak for maximum loading. Chemical resistance was poor for the highest loaded samples with respect to acids and bases. Graphic abstract