Fatty acid composition of melon (Colocynthis vulgaris Shrad) seed oil and its application in synthesis and evaluation of alkyd resins

Abstract

The high cost and environmental problems associated with the use of petroleum -based monomers for synthesis of binders can be solved by the use of locally sourced vegetable oils as precursor for synthesis of binders. The polymers from the latter are biodegradable and cheaper than petroleum polymers. The GC-MS result revealed that melon seed oil contains octadec -14, 17dienoic acid (56.86%) as the most abundant fatty acid. Four sets of alkyd samples formulated by varying the percentage of melon seed oil contents were synthesised according to the alcoholysis-polyesterification process. The effect of oil lengths and oil quality on properties such as the drying schedule, hardness, gloss, colour, and chemical resistance of the alkyds were evaluated. Short oil alkyd of crude and refined oil possessed the best hardness, drying time and resistant to 5% brine solution. These properties were comparable to those of the soya alkyd paints.