Synthesis and Characterization of Sustainable Inverse Vulcanized Copolymers from Non-Edible Oil

摘要

Inverse vulcanization is a facile solvent-free process, which offers interesting sustainable copolymers from the reaction of sulfur with petro-based monomers or edible vegetable oils. However, sulfur reaction with the former contradicts green chemistry, whereas the latter reduces the viability of the product and can contribute to the food crisis. Herein, we report the preparation of sulfur-based polymer (SBP) by the reaction of rubber seed oil, RSO (a non-edible oil), to produce a sustainable sulfur-based copolymer for the first time. The properties of the new polymer were evaluated using different techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-rays (SEM-EDX-mapping), powdered X-ray diffrac- tometer (p-XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differ- ential scanning calorimetry (DSC).