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<p>The use of renewable feedstocks is increasingly important for mitigating climate change, because such resources generally produce fewer pollutants and greenhouse gases while supporting cleaner energy and material pathways. Renewable lipid-derived streams—such as acid oil, waste oil, and vegetable oils and their derivatives—can be converted into value-added bio-based products including lubricants, adhesives, and plasticizers. Bio-based plasticizers are particularly attractive due to their biodegradability and effective plasticizing performance; however, excessive volatility and migration from polymer matrices, especially at elevated temperatures or during storage, can cause loss of flexibility and increased brittleness. Therefore, desirable bio-plasticizers must have desirable characteristics such as low volatility, high flash points, and renewability. This research develops bio-based plasticizers through a three-stage synthetic route: esterification, epoxidation, and subsequent ring opening of the epoxide ring. The chemical structures of the ring-opened alkyl esters were confirmed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (<sup>1</sup>H NMR). Subsequently, the synthesized esters were incorporated as bio-based plasticizers into poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) films prepared via solution casting under optimized thermal processing conditions. The plasticized PVC films were subjected to comprehensive mechanical evaluation, including tensile strength, elongation at break, stiffness, and Young’s modulus, using a universal testing machine (UTM). These analyses collectively established the structure–property relationships and assessed the suitability of the ring-opened alkyl esters as potential sustainable plasticizers for PVC. Further, a comparative performance study of prepared products was conducted with commercial dioctyl phthalate (DOP). In addition to these evaluations, the surface morphology of the synthesized epoxidized esters and their plasticized PVC films was further characterized using Field Emission Gun Scanning Electron Microscopy (FEG-SEM), which confirmed uniform microstructural distribution and the absence of major defects. Overall, this study aims to demonstrate that tailored ring-opened bio-esters can serve as effective, lower-migration plasticizers for PVC, providing comparable or improved mechanical and thermal performance relative to conventional phthalate plasticizers while aligning with sustainability goals.</p> Graphical abstract

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Synthesis, characterization and performance studies of bio-based plasticizers obtained from epoxidized acid oil alkyl esters via ring-opening reaction in poly(vinyl chloride) film

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年3月28日

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  • Prince H. Patel,
  • Jigar V. Patel,
  • Mandar Karve

摘要

The use of renewable feedstocks is increasingly important for mitigating climate change, because such resources generally produce fewer pollutants and greenhouse gases while supporting cleaner energy and material pathways. Renewable lipid-derived streams—such as acid oil, waste oil, and vegetable oils and their derivatives—can be converted into value-added bio-based products including lubricants, adhesives, and plasticizers. Bio-based plasticizers are particularly attractive due to their biodegradability and effective plasticizing performance; however, excessive volatility and migration from polymer matrices, especially at elevated temperatures or during storage, can cause loss of flexibility and increased brittleness. Therefore, desirable bio-plasticizers must have desirable characteristics such as low volatility, high flash points, and renewability. This research develops bio-based plasticizers through a three-stage synthetic route: esterification, epoxidation, and subsequent ring opening of the epoxide ring. The chemical structures of the ring-opened alkyl esters were confirmed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR). Subsequently, the synthesized esters were incorporated as bio-based plasticizers into poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) films prepared via solution casting under optimized thermal processing conditions. The plasticized PVC films were subjected to comprehensive mechanical evaluation, including tensile strength, elongation at break, stiffness, and Young’s modulus, using a universal testing machine (UTM). These analyses collectively established the structure–property relationships and assessed the suitability of the ring-opened alkyl esters as potential sustainable plasticizers for PVC. Further, a comparative performance study of prepared products was conducted with commercial dioctyl phthalate (DOP). In addition to these evaluations, the surface morphology of the synthesized epoxidized esters and their plasticized PVC films was further characterized using Field Emission Gun Scanning Electron Microscopy (FEG-SEM), which confirmed uniform microstructural distribution and the absence of major defects. Overall, this study aims to demonstrate that tailored ring-opened bio-esters can serve as effective, lower-migration plasticizers for PVC, providing comparable or improved mechanical and thermal performance relative to conventional phthalate plasticizers while aligning with sustainability goals.

Graphical abstract