UNIVERSITY OF SALENTO

The innovative product is a plasticizer for PVC obtained by chemical modification of cardanol, a very cheap resource with an industrial cost which is half the cost of DOP compared to similar chemical and physical properties. Cardanol and modified cardanol have been proven to be effective plasticizers for rubber. Derivatives of cardanol have also been proved to be efficient plasticizers for PVC. The cardanol molecule can be modified by esterification of the hydroxyl group, to obtain cardanol acetate, which can be used as secondary plasticizer of PVC in conjunction with traditional phthalates plasticizers. Up to 20 phr of cardanol acetate can be added to soft PVC. Cardanol acetate can be obtained in very high yields in a green process, which does not require the use of solvents, and uses very cheap reagents.

> Antonio Greco

> +39 832 297 233

> Italy