Volume : 4, Issue : 3, March - 2015

Feasibility of castor oil derived theromosetting polymer as low dielectric material

Saral Baweja, Rishav Kakati, Swati Arora, M. Fahim

Abstract :

<p>&lt;p&gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;nbsp;The present paper reports the synthesis of a thermosetting polymer derived from non&amp;amp;amp;ndash;edible oil extracted from Castor&amp;amp;amp;nbsp;&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;div&amp;amp;gt;seeds. Polymer synthesis was done using two different solvents namely methylethyl ketone (MEK) and acetone. It was&amp;amp;amp;nbsp;&amp;amp;lt;/div&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;div&amp;amp;gt;interesting to observe that the two different solvents had contrasting effect on the mechanical properties of resulting&amp;amp;amp;nbsp;&amp;amp;lt;/div&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;div&amp;amp;gt;polymer. Acetone derived polymer was less ductile and thick while MEK derived polymer was more ductile and thin. Also, the most interesting&amp;amp;amp;nbsp;&amp;amp;lt;/div&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;div&amp;amp;gt;observation was the formation of random micropores during the drying of solvent cast films due to evaporation of solvents. In the case of acetone&amp;amp;amp;nbsp;&amp;amp;lt;/div&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;div&amp;amp;gt;the pore size was larger as compared to the pores free film formed in MEK derived polymer. These studies suggested that a controlled evaporation&amp;amp;amp;nbsp;&amp;amp;lt;/div&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;div&amp;amp;gt;of solvents during curing can be used to control the size of pores in the films which can be used as a memane or filter. The bio&amp;amp;amp;ndash;derived polymer&amp;amp;amp;nbsp;&amp;amp;lt;/div&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;div&amp;amp;gt;was also reinforced with lignocellulosic sisal fie derived from the leaves of Agave sisalana., to develop a lightweight polymer composite. Thin&amp;amp;amp;nbsp;&amp;amp;lt;/div&amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;lt;div&amp;amp;gt;coating of the derived polymers can be used in application where low dielectric medium is desired&amp;amp;lt;/div&amp;amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;</p>