Cottonseed oil as green alternative

Containing unique combinations of triacylglycerols, plant oils derived from different sources, have a great potential to be used in various area of applications. Nowadays, among all of oils, soybean oil, which is also being used as food source, is the most explored in research for industrial uses. At the same time, other types of oils have been studied not nearly as much as soybean oil. A new study explores the utilisation of a cottonseed oil for the development of a bio-based UV-curable polymer resin. Since the fatty acid composition of cottonseed oil is very different compared to soybean oil, the products from this oil can be beneficial in entirely different applications. The combination of cottonseed oil as a raw material and the ultraviolet (UV) process as a curing technology presented in the work, provides an alternative “greener” solution for problems industry is facing. Acrylated-epoxidised cottonseed oil (AECO) was synthesised by the epoxidation of cottonseed oil via the peracetic acid method, followed by the acrylation of the epoxidised oil using acrylic acid.

Competitive and sustainable alternative

This polymer resin then was used as a main component in formulations and transformed into a crosslinked network by photopolymerization. In order to achieve the desired mechanical properties of the plant oil-based films, two reactive diluents, 1,6-hexandioldiacrylate and trimethylolpropane triacrylate, in different weight ratios were added separately to the formulations. The properties of the coatings, as well as their thermal and mechanical stability were evaluated. Moreover, comparing the AECO resin with an already existent commercially available product, the potential industrial use of AECO was assessed. In general, the results highlight increased flexibility of AECO-based materials compared to petroleum-derived ones, which is beneficial for many applications, including, but not limited to wood substrates, printed electronics, paper products. The study concludes that functionalised resins obtained from cottonseed oil can provide a competitive and sustainable alternative to accommodate the rapid growth in the use of bio-based UV-curable materials.

The study has been published in Progress in Organic Coatings, Volume 185, December 2023.

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