Cardanol (Bio‑Based Phenol)

About This Product

Cardanol is obtained by heating cashew nut shell liquid so its anacardic acid loses carbon dioxide and converts to cardanol, then vacuum-distilling to concentrate that fraction. It carries CAS number 37330-39-5 and is supplied as a pale yellow to brown viscous liquid derived entirely from a nut-processing residue. Structurally it is a phenol carrying a fifteen-carbon unsaturated side chain, and that dual character defines its role. It is not a biodiesel feedstock: FAME production depends on displacing the glycerol backbone of a triglyceride, and cardanol has no such backbone. What it does offer is a renewable, low-ash liquid with good calorific value and a phenolic ring that confers natural antioxidant activity. Those two properties are why it is investigated and used as a bio-based fuel blend component and as the base for fuel additives, where the phenolic group can act as a stabiliser against oxidation in stored fuel. Its long alkyl chain also keeps it soluble in hydrocarbon fuels, which many bio-based phenolics are not. Beyond fuel, it is the feedstock for friction resins, coatings and polymer modification. It is used as a renewable fuel blend component, an antioxidant and additive base, and as feedstock for phenolic resins and specialty chemicals. Bio Green Fuels supplies cardanol to specification on cardanol content, calorific value, viscosity, moisture, ash, acid value and iodine value.