Synthesis of biomass‐based plasticizer with excellent durability for high transparent polyvinyl chloride film

Abstract The objective of this study is to synthesis biomass‐based plasticizer epoxy p ‐phenylenedioleic acid ester (EPAE) using linoleic acid as raw materials via esterification and epoxidation. EPAE was used as main plasticizer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to replace diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP). The plasticizing effect of EPEA on the performance of PVC films was investigated. The results showed that epoxy groups were covalently bonded on branched chains of EPAE. EPAE play a plasticizing role by forming hydrogen bond between epoxy group and a‐hydrogen on PVC. When the mass of EPAE was 0.8 g in 2 g PVC, Tg of flexible PVC reached 36.1°C, the elongation at break of flexible PVC was 321.12 ± 6.13%, while the tensile strength reached 19.45 ± 1.35%. The transmittance of DIBP‐0.8 and EPAE‐0.8 at 800 nm is nearly 70%, indicating relatively high homogeneous amorphous aggregation structures. EPAE showed marginal resistance to volatilization and solvent extraction. The mechanism behind the results was discussed.