Potential of epoxidized palm oil as a green alternative to rubber processing oils

Abstract

Abstract Sustainability is a growing concern in the rubber industry particularly due to the vast amount of environmental issues associated with the manufacturing process. The dependencies of hydrocarbons as Rubber Processing Oils (RPOs) throughout the compounding process is an area that is being heavily researched in search for greener alternatives. This study aims to determine the viability of a naturally available vegetable oil, Epoxidized Palm Oil (EPO), as a substitute to the current petroleum-based rubber processing oils. Therefore, the processability, cure characteristics as well as mechanical properties of the rubber compounds with EPO were benchmarked with those of the standard rubber compounds prepared with selected petroleum oils; Paraffin Oil, Aromatic Oil and Naphthenic Oil. The finding from this report suggests that EPO is a viable substitute to petroleum-derived RPOs as it performs within the acceptable range as the compounds with the other RPOs.