Modification of Used Palm Oil: Preliminary Study of its Potentiality as Polyurethane Foam Precursors

Abstract

Polyol was successfully synthesized from used palm oil (UPO) via epoxidation and ring opening reaction. The mole ratio of UPO: formic acid: hydrogen peroxide was 0.3: 8: 1.5. The reaction had been continuously stirred at 400 rpm at 65°C with varied reaction time for 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 4.0 h. The chemical structure of modified used palm oil (MUPO) or polyol was confirmed by 1H-NMR. OH number of polyols increased with an increase reaction time. Moreover, the preliminary study for the preparation of MUPO-based polyurethane (PU) foam was performed. A new MUPO-based PU foam was successfully prepared and theirs foam behaviors were investigated.