I am interested in extracting a polymer resin out of coconut oil for my research work. Please let me know if the polymerization is possible for coconut oil and if yes, can anyone suggest me the laboratory procedure for the same.
Normally coco nut oil is classified as no drying-but today exists different kind of use:
trans esterification with maleic anhydride and curing with peroxide(s) is one way to resins. Depending of the final product shut be the process,
good luck !
The "drying", hardening, curing of oils is the result of autoxidation, the addition of oxygen to coconut oil. This process begins with an oxygen molecule (O2) in the air inserting into carbon-hydrogen (C-H) bonds adjacent to one of the double bonds within the unsaturated fatty acid in coconut oil. The resulting hydroperoxides are susceptible to crosslinking reactions. Bonds form between neighboring fatty acid chains, This polymerization resulting form a polymer network and finds a skin-like film on samples.
Anyway, there is a lot of cooking, searching of raw materials, chemist not living in "developed" countries some times suffer with this or the equipment.
I strongly suggest the way of the methyl- or ethyl ester like actually done with biodiesel from spend cooking oil, having the ester and glycerine too, there is a lot of chemistry still to do .
The ester can be trans-esterificated with maleic anhydride and same H2O, curing with peroxide gives resins..
Other trans esterification with Polypropileneglycol 1000 or 2000 opens to soft PUR ( plus Di-isocyanate)
They can be distilled to obtain fractions of C 8 to C 10, highly valuable in Food, cosmetic and others.
I wish a good luck to Ritesh, a lot of searching and my personnel experience in Mexico:
Not all ways one has to go the old paths of the Elephants !
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