Castor oil and its derivatives have great potential to be used in various fields. This blog post reviews the key end uses and applications for the oil and derivatives:
- Polyurethane – Castor oil based polyurethane foam and adhesives
- Ethanol lubricant – Ethanol has no lubricating characteristics. Castor oil is one of the few lubricants that blend with alcohol.
- Binders – Use of castor oil in the preparation of oil-based binders
- Treating unique ailments – Use of castor oil in treating some unique gland ailments
- Unique Coating applications – Acetoacetate esters from castor oil are being tried to formulate thermosetting coating compositions.
- Unique resins – Oil-modified alkyd type resin based on secondary esters of castor oil
- Food Grade Plasticizers
- In July 2005, Denmark’s Danisco A/S announced that it has developed a non-phthalate plasticizer based on castor oil. This food-grade plasticizer for flexible PVC has been developed as an alternative to phthalates.
- Grindsted Soft-N-Safe is made from fully hardened castor oil and acetic acid. The product has been approved by the EU for food-contact applications and is expected to find future uses in toys and medical equipment.
- Bioadhesives
- Modification of the biopolymer castor oil with free isocyanate groups to be applied as bioadhesive – Surgical adhesives have been used for several applications, including haemostasis, sealing air leakages and tissue adhesion.
Prominent Emerging Applications of Castor oil are:
- Biopolymers
- Personal care
- Other specialty chemicals
- Biofuels