In-Situ Epoxidation of Locally Sourced Sesame Seed Oil

الملخص

Epoxidised vegetable oils are used in various purposes for example, plasticisers, additives and as start materials (polyols) in polymers, lubricants, and production of urethane foams, respectively. This work aims to help Yemen to start production of epoxy resins from locally extracted vegetable oils. The epoxidised sesame seed oil (ESSO) has been carried out in situ technique by using hydrogen peroxide as oxygen donor and acetic acid as oxygen carrier in the presence of sulfuric acid as catalyst. The characterization of sesame seed oil through iodine number was 95.3 and epoxidised sesame seed oil was 6.55 of the same method. This reduction in an iodine value indicates that the epoxidation of sesame seed oil was successfully achieved. Furthermore, the chemical structure of the epoxidised sesame seed oil was confirmed by Fourier transformation infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy, comprising with structure of sesame seed oil.

Keywords: Epoxidised, In situ technique, Iodine number, Sesame seed oil