Castor Oil
"Castor oilis a vegetable oil obtained from the castor bean (technically castor seed as the castor plant, Ricinus communis,([Euphorbiaceae]) is not a member of the bean family). Castor oil (CAS number 8001-79-4) is a colorless to very pale yellow liquid with mild or no odor or taste. Its boiling point is 313 °C (595 °F) and its density is 961 kg/m3. It is a triglyceride in which approximately 90 percent of fatty acid chains are ricinoleic acid, oleic and linoleic acids are the other significant components."
“Ricinoleic acid, a monounsaturated, 18-carbon fatty acid, is unusual in that it has a hydroxyl functional group on the 12th carbon. This functional group causes ricinoleic acid (and castor oil) to be unusually polar, and also allows chemical derivatization that is not practical with most other seed oils. It is the hydroxyl group which makes castor oil and ricinoleic acid valuable as chemical feedstocks. Compared to other seed oils which lack the hydroxyl group, castor oil commands a higher price. As an example, in July 2007, Indian castor oil sold for about US$ 0.90 per kilogram (US$0.41 per pound)[3]while U.S. soybean, sunflower and canola oil sold for about US$0.30 per kilogram (US$0.14 per pound).”
Recent Journal Articles
Shape Memory Polyurethanes from Renewable Polyols Obtained by ATMET Polymerization of Glyceryl Triundec-10-enoate and 10-Undecenol
(1392–1399)Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics 212 #13 (2011)
Del Rio et al of theUniversitat Rovira i Virgili, Spain and the Institute of Organic Chemistry, Germany, synthesized branched polyols from glyceryl triundec-10-enoate by acyclic triene metathesis polymerization (ATMET). 10-Undecenol is used as a monofunctional comonomer to end-cap polymer chains, functionalize the periphery of the resulting branched materials, and to control the molecular weight. The thus obtained castor oil derived polyols are reacted with 4,4′-methylenebis(phenylisocyanate) (MDI) to yield a series of semicrystalline polyurethane networks. The investigation of the thermal stability and the thermomechanical and mechanical properties of these thermosets revealed good shape memory properties. (RDC 6/27/2011)
Dielectric properties of castor oil cross-linked polyurethane
(49-58) High Performance Polymers 23 #1 (2011)
Abstract
Oprea, Potolinca and Oprea of the Petru Poni' Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry and the University of Medicine and Pharmacy,, Romania synthesized a series of polyurethanes cross-linked with castor oil. It was found that the formation of hydrogen bonds between urethane groups of physical networks may control the molecular mobility, but the chemical nature and content of the cross-links of the hard segments strongly influences the molecular relaxation. (RDC 4/8/2011)