Lubricant properties of the polyol from the seed oil of Lonchocarpus sericeus

Abstract

Oil was extracted from the seed of the Lonchocarpus sericeus using hexane in a soxhlet extractor. The oil was characterized and used for the synthesis of polyol via epoxy ring opening reaction with 2-ethylhexanol. The structural characterization of the polyol was confirmed using FTIR and 1HNMR. The GC analysis of the oil of L. sericeus revealed C18:3 and C18:1 fatty acid as the dominant fatty acids present in the oil. The polyol had hydroxyl value of 182.10 ± 0.20 mg KOH/g, a copper strip corrosion value of 1A and a flash point of 280.00 ± 1.20oC. The synthesis and lubricant properties exhibited by the polyol suggested that the seed oil of L. sericeus can be chemically modified and employed as a starting material for lubricantproduction.

Keywords

• epoxidation
• fatty acids
• lonchocarpus sericeus
• lubricant
• polyol