Development of coating material from epoxidized unripe fresh fruit bunch palm oil

Epoxy coatings have been high in demand in recent years as it provides high protection against corrosion. This research focuses on the development of a coating material from epoxidized unripe fresh fruit bunch palm oil. The main raw material used was diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA), a material derived from petrochemical which is a nonrenewable resource. Health concerns arising from the use of DGEBA coupled with the rapid depletion of non-renewable resources have driven researchers to develop alternative methods of creating epoxy coatings using renewable materials. Advancement in technology have enabled further research on the use of vegetable oil in the formulation of environmental-friendly epoxy coatings. This study aims to explore the potential of using epoxidized crude palm oil (ECPO) that originated from unripe fresh fruit bunch (FFB) and DGEBA in the development of a coating. The performance of the developed coating material was then assessed in terms of its chemical resistance using ASTM G20-88 (chemical immersion test) and ASTM D5402-93 standard (solvent rub test). The degree of rusting on the coated test panels was evaluated using D610-01 standard. The coating material was developed using three different ratios which were 10:90, 20:80 and 30:70 (ECPO:DGEBA). Titanium (IV) oxide powder as pigment, cycloaliphatic amine adduct as curing agent and toluene as solvent were added to the coating formulation. Each coating formulation was applied on mild steel coupons (test panels) and cured at room temperature and standard conditions for 24 hours. The FTIR analysis showed that the unripe FFB palm oil contains oxirane ring after epoxidation. The chemical immersion test showed that the steel coupons had minor to no corrosion, whereby the minor corrosion (edge effects) occurred on the test panels for formulations 10:90 and 20:80 in sodium chloride solution. Results obtained from the solvent rub test showed that the test panels with coating formulation 10:90 had the least thickness loss, followed by 20:80 and 30:70 which had the highest thickness loss. In conclusion, with extensive research and development efforts, ECPO has the potential to substitute DGEBA in coating formulations, thus leading to a more sustainable and greener environment.