Curing behavior of polycardanol by MEKP and cobalt naphthenate using differential scanning calorimetry

In this study, polycardanol, which was synthesized by enzymatic oxidative polymerization of thermally treated cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) using fungal peroxidase, was partially or fully cured using methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (MEKP) as initiator and cobalt naphthenate (Co-Naph) as accelerator. The curing behavior of polycardanol was extensively investigated in terms of curing temperature, curing time, concentration of initiator and accelerator, and the monomer-to-polymer conversion of polycardanol by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The curing behavior significantly depends on the thermal condition given and it was monitored with the change of the exotherms as a function of temperature. The optimal conditions for fully curing polycardanol are 1 wt% MEKP, 0.2 wt% Co-Naph, curing time 120 min, and curing temperature 200 A degrees C. This study suggests that a polycardanol with high monomer-to-polymer conversion would be useful for processing a polycardanol matrix composite under the optimal conditions of curing.