Evaluation of Polyurethane Foam Derived from the Liquefied Driftwood Approaching for Untapped Biomass

Abstract

Nowadays, climate change has become a serious concern, and more attention has been drawn to utilizing biomass sources instead of fossil sources and how petroleum chemical plastics should be reduced or replaced with bio-based materials. In this study, the optimized condition of liquefaction of driftwood was examined. There was a concern that driftwood might have some decay and chemical change. However, according to the Organic Micro Element Analyzer (CHN analyzer) test and Klason lignin and Wise methods, the results proved that lignin content (37.5%), holocellulose content (66.9%), and CHN compositions were very similar to regular wood. The lowest residue content of bio-polyols was produced using liquefaction conditions of 150 °C, reaction time of 180 min, catalyst content of 10%w/w, and 12.5%w/w driftwood loading. Polyurethane foam (PUF) derived from the liquefaction of driftwood and bio-based cyanate was prepared. The PUF prepared from the liquefaction of the driftwood exhibited slightly decreased thermal durability but was superior in terms of 3-time faster biodegradation and 2.8-time increased water adsorption rate compared to pure petroleum-based PUF. As a result, it was shown that driftwood can be identified as a biomass resource for biodegradable PUF.