Unmodified Plant and Waste Oils as Functional Additives in PU Flooring Adhesives: A Comparative Study

This work compares reactive (castor) and non-reactive (rapeseed, sunflower, linseed, and used cooking) oils, each at a dosage of 10 wt%, when incorporated into an in-house two-component polyurethane (PU) parquet adhesive. A commercial market adhesive was tested only as an external benchmark and was not modified. Mechanical properties were evaluated according to EN ISO 17178, inorganic leaching according to EN 12457-4, and volatile organics were screened by headspace GC–MS (not comparable to ISO 16000-9 chamber protocols). All in-house formulations met the EN ISO 17178 acceptance limits. The sunflower oil variant showed the highest shear strength, whereas rapeseed and castor oils provided stable tensile performance. HS-GC-MS did not yield high-confidence VOC identifications; therefore, no regulatory emission claim is made. The formulation with used cooking oil exhibited the largest variability and elevated leaching of Zn and Sb, underscoring the need for feedstock quality control. At 10 wt% loading, standard-compliant performance was obtained with both reactive and non-reactive oils, suggesting that physical modification can be sufficient, while castor oil may additionally react. In contrast to derivatized oils reported elsewhere, our approach employs unmodified oils, thereby avoiding extra reaction steps—such as epoxidation, hydroxylation, and transesterification—that typically increase the carbon footprint, while still meeting relevant standards. Full VOC chamber testing and LCA are beyond the scope of this study.