Blends of Mesua ferrea L. seed oil based polyurethane with epoxy resin

Abstract

PurposeTo evaluate the performance of the blends of Mesua ferrea L. seed oil based polyurethane resins with a commercially available bisphenol‐A epoxy resin at different weight ratios.Design/methodology/approachFor effective improvement of their various properties, polyurethane‐ester (PE) and polyurethane‐amide (PA) resins of Mesua ferrea L. seed oil were blended with a commercially available bisphenol‐A‐based epoxy (EP) in different ratios (PE or PA:EP = 100:40, 100:50 and 100:60 by weight) by using the solution blending technique in xylene. The tensile strength, impact strength, adhesive strength, flexibility, hardness, elongation at break, swelling behaviour and chemical resistance in different media of the films for both the blends have been studied.FindingsThe blending of PE and PA resins of Mesua ferrea L. seed oil with a commercially available bisphenol‐A‐based epoxy (EP) showed very good compatibility of the components as observed by SEM study. The blending also significantly improved the performance characteristics such as drying time, tensile strength, impact strength, adhesive strength, chemical resistance, etc. of the films.Research limitations/implicationsThe epoxy resin and the hardener are used of a particular grade of a particular manufacturer. Further, it could be obtained from different sources and of different grades. In addition, the performance characteristics could also be studied to optimise the exact blend ratio.Practical implicationsThe method developed provided a simple and practical solution to improve the performance characteristic of polyurethane resin with less than one NCO/OH ratio.Originality/valueThe method for improving the performance characteristics of epoxy modified vegetable oil based polyurethane is something novel and could find numerous applications in surface coatings, adhesive and thin film.