Synthesis and Properties of a Novel Levulinic Acid-Based Environmental Auxiliary Plasticizer for Poly(vinyl chloride)

Zeyu You; Min Yu; Renli Fu; Xiaoan Nie; Jie Chen

doi:10.3390/polym16030361

Synthesis and Properties of a Novel Levulinic Acid-Based Environmental Auxiliary Plasticizer for Poly(vinyl chloride)

Polymers (Basel). 2024 Jan 29;16(3):361. doi: 10.3390/polym16030361.

Authors

Zeyu You^{1

2}, Min Yu², Renli Fu², Xiaoan Nie¹, Jie Chen¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Material, Institute of Chemical Industry of Forest Products, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Nanjing 210042, China.
² College of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China.

Abstract

Herein, a bio-based plasticizer ketalized tung oil butyl levulinate (KTBL) was developed using methyl eleostearate, a derivative of tung oil, and butyl levulinate. KTBL can be used as an auxiliary plasticizer to partially replace traditional plasticizer. The plasticizer has a ketone structure, an ester base, and a long linear chain. It was mixed with dioctyl phthalate (DOP), and the effect of the plasticizer KTBL as an auxiliary plasticizer on the plasticization of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) was studied. Their compatibility and plasticizing effect were evaluated using dynamic-mechanical thermal analysis (DMA), mechanical property analysis, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results demonstrate that when the KTBL to DOP ratio is 1:1, the blended sample with KTBL exhibits superior mechanical performance compared to pure DOP, resulting in an increased elongation at break from 377.47% to 410.92%. Moreover, with the increase in KTBL content, the durability is also significantly improved. These findings suggest that KTBL can serve as an effective auxiliary plasticizer for PVC, thereby reducing the reliance on DOP.

Keywords: ketal; methyl eleostearate; plasticizer; poly(vinyl chloride); renewable origin.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Jiangsu Key Lab of Biomass-based Fuels and Materials (JSBEM-S-202002), the National Natural Science Foundation of China for Youth Science Funds (32101471).