Synthesis and characterization of petroleum and biobased epoxy resins: a review

Abstract Petroleum based epoxy resins exhibit various excellent properties such as adhesion, mechanical performance, electrical insulation and chemical resistance. There is wide concern towards depletion of non‐renewable resources, climate change and finding renewable alternatives for petroleum based materials to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. This review mainly draws attention towards the utilization of renewable resource based epoxy resin derived from lignocellulosic biomass, furan, tannins, itaconic acid, rosin acid and bio‐oil etc. Without altering the mechanical and thermal properties much, epoxy resins derived from renewable materials have been widely investigated. The last two decades have witnessed an exponential growth in using bio‐derived products, which has been driven by the need to replace petroleum based materials, reduce fuel consumption and lower the overall environmental impact. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry