The realisation that petroleum reserves are finite, thereby casting doubts on the future availability of petroleum products as industrial raw materials, has rekindled interest on renewable resources like Cashew Nut Shell Liquid (CNSL). CNSL, which is obtained from the shells as a by-product of the cashew nut industry, is one of the few major and economic sources of naturally occurring phenols. The presence of considerable amount of phenolic compound in CNSL makes it an important low cost and widely versatile alternative faw material in several applications, notable in the manufacture of paints and varnishes, production of friction dust for formulating break linings and clutch facing lamination, production of foundry coreoil, rubber compounding and for protecting wood etc. This paper covers the extraction, chemical composition, polymerisation, properties and industrial applications of CNSL and its products.
展开▼
