Contents lists available at ScienceDirect European Polymer Journal journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/europolj Synthesis and characterization of stretchable IPN polymers from biodegradable resins incorporated with styrene and methyl methacrylate monomers for enhanced mechanical strength Mercy Eben a , Karthick Cithuraj b , Shakina Justus a, ⁎ , Jebasingh Bhagavathsingh b, ⁎ a Department of Chemistry, Sarah Tucker College, Tirunelveli 627 007, Tamilnadu, India b Department of Applied Chemistry, Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences, Coimbatore 641114, Tamilnadu, India ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Interpenetrating Polymer Network (IPN) Pristine polymers Hydroxylated oils Edible oils Biodegradable resins Young’s Modulus Tensile strength Biodegradable polymer ABSTRACT Herein we report a convenient synthesis of pristine polymers from pungam oil, sunflower oil and cotton seed oil and its biodegradable interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) incorporated with styrene and methyl metha- crylate monomers. The pristine resins were synthesized from their respective hydroxylated oils by reacting with H 2 O 2 and followed by esterification with maleic anhydride. The IPN polymers were prepared by blending of two pristine resins with the monomers in a template glass mould at ambient temperature which show the homo- genous and transparent in nature. The polymeric materials were characterized by XRD, IR, UV and SEM analysis. The thermal analysis of pristine and IPN polymers display the enhanced thermal stability due to the penetration of resin with the styrene and methyl methacrylate monomers with higher T m of 345 °C. The synthesized IPN polymers also show the enhanced mechanical strength and enhanced interfacial elasticity. These types of bio- degradable IPN polymers can be used as ecofriendly and sustainable environmental applications. 1. Introduction The development of interpenetrating polymeric networks (IPN) using pristine resins with the unsaturated oil contents have received significant interest due to their manipulations and easy fabrications for enhanced mechanical properties [1–3]. The necessity for integrating the virgin or pristine polymers is required to enhance the physical properties of the resin by the combination of two different polymers through blending or copolymerization [4,5]. The IPN is highly depends on the composition of raw materials, its methodology and the fabrica- tion techniques during polymerization. Variety of IPNs are available namely, Latex IPN is prepared by emulsion polymerization, thermo- plastic IPN is developed by physical crosslink in the polymers, gradient IPN is prepared by the formation of gradient surface films using one polymer, and semi-IPN is fabricated by one polymer in the network [6]. Maria et al., have synthesized the semi-IPN using the castor oil poly- urethane with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and reported the variation of its mechanical strength as varies with MMA content [7]. Karak et al., have reported the cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) blended self-healable PU polymeric material for anticorrosive coating applica- tions, which reduces the corrosion rate of corroded mild steel plate 3000 times more than the bare plate (8.76 × 10 -5 mm/y) [8]. Roland has demonstrated the IPN properties that rely on the two different co- exist network of resins with the properties of co-continuous and the formation of interlocking networks. The formation of interpenetrating network using resins depends on the kinetic retention of miscible monomers, inhibited phase segregation and thermodynamic compat- ibility of constituent resins [9]. It is well-known that the high elasticity of the materials can be achieved not only by the flexible molecular chains and rubbery nature of the monomers, but also the chemical bonding of the constitute chains and co-continuity nature of the resins along with the concentration of cross links. The full IPN polymer was prepared by the silicon membrane blended with the polystyrene cross linker for the enhanced performance and mechanical properties of the polymeric materials [10]. Lee et al., have prepared the semi IPN based solid polymer electrolytes for the fuel cells and soft mechanical actua- tors applications [11]. The renewable semi-IPN polymer was developed from the waste frying oil using thiol-ene reaction and a plasticizer [12,13]. Honerkamp et al., have developed a model system with phase inversion using PS and PMMA polymer blend and their morphology stabilization and rheological properties were investigated [14]. The polymer based micro-fluidic systems for high transparency to visible light using PMMA to PS thermo-compression bonding process was de- veloped by Yi et al. [15]. Palmese et al., have used the inexpensive fatty https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2020.109957 Received 22 May 2020; Received in revised form 13 August 2020; Accepted 14 August 2020 ⁎ Corresponding authors. E-mail addresses: shakina@sarahtuckercollege.edu.in (S. Justus), jebasinghb@karunya.edu (J. Bhagavathsingh). European Polymer Journal 138 (2020) 109957 Available online 25 August 2020 0014-3057/ © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. T