Characterization of the curing process of vinyl plastisols with epoxidized linseed oil as a natural‐based plasticizer

In this work, we have evaluated the curing process of a natural‐based plasticizer, epoxidized linseed oil, as a possible alternative to phthalate substitution for polyvinyl chloride. Several curing times ranging from 6 to 14 min at different isothermal curing temperatures in the 140–220°C range have been selected. The effects of the curing process (in terms of time and temperature) have been determined by mechanical tests, color measurements, and microstructure characterization. The obtained results show that optimum overall properties are obtained for curing times of 10–12 min at 200°C or 8 min at 220°C, which are typical values of industrial processing of vinyl plastisols. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012