Epoxidation of palm oil using synthesized titanium-silica catalyst and investigation on the properties of acrylated epoxidized palm oil / Sharifah Nafisah Syed Ismail

Catalytic palm oil epoxidation using titanium-grafted silica, hydrogen peroxide, and peroxoformic acid was carried out at 60°C in a fixed batch reactor. Titanium-grafted silica with different percentages of silica content was prepared through sol-gel hydrolysis and was utilized in epoxidation of palm oil. They were characterized by X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance ('H-NMR). The Ti-O-Si bonds were detected at 960 cm" 1 in Ti-Si 0.5 and exhibited highest yield of epoxidized palm oil (EPO) in the epoxidation process which is 8 6 % conversion of unsaturation in palm oil to epoxy groups. New peaks observed in the range of 8 2.4 ppm to 8 3.6 ppm in the ’H-NMR spectrum of EPO belong to protons of the epoxy cyclic ring group, CH-O-CH confirming successful epoxidation of palm oil using the prepared catalyst. For the catalyst recycle study, Ti-Si 0.5 withstood up to twice catalytic run with negligible changes in their selectivity and with a loss in their specific activity. This study indicated the true nature of heterogeneous catalysis on Ti-Si 0.5. An acrylated epoxidized palm oil (AEPO) was synthesized from EPO through ring opening of the oxirane group using acrylic acid as the ring opening agent. The %OOC reached 0.88% with acid value was 48.25. The derivatised of acrylic acid of AEPO was detected at 8 5.8 ppm to 8 6.5 ppm indicated the appearance of acrylate CH=CH2 . The new bands which may attributed to the vinyl functionality 1624 cm 1, CH2=CH-COO and also at absorption band of 961cm'1, =C-H as can be seen in FTIR result. The increased in viscosity of AEPO, 497.5 Cps was due to the -OH groups that was confirmed by appearance of peak at 3417cm"1 in FTIR. The synthesized AEPO was mixed with four different composition of photoinitiator and cured under ultra-violet radiation, the preparation of AEPO films in UV curing adhesive, AEPO 2wt% have the highest surface hardness. The AEPO 2wt% has the highest gel content whereas the AEPO 2.5wt% had the lowest gel content. The increasing of photoinitiator from lwt% to 2.5wt% in AEPO samples except for AEPO 1.5wt% showed increasing in adhesion strength.