Polyurethanes with bio‐based and recycled components

Abstract

Polyurethanes (PUR) combining renewable bio-based raw materials and recycled polyols were prepared and characterized. A fish oil-based polyol and a castor oil (CO) were used as the bio-based raw materials. Recycled polyols were prepared by chemical decomposition of PUR flexible foam. Based on the properties of the natural and the recycled polyols, final PUR materials were designed as rigid foams or cast systems. Processing parameters as well as final thermo-mechanical properties of the prepared materials were evaluated and discussed. The results showed that the fish oil-based recycled polyol was suitable for the preparation of the rigid PUR foam and can replace a majority of petrochemical polyols in the rigid PUR foam formulation without any detrimental effects on final quality of the product. Due to the high content of the secondary hydroxyl groups, the CO-based recycled polyol was less reactive with the isocyanates than the fish oil-based recycled polyol. Therefore, the CO-based recycled polyol was used for the preparation of the compact cast PUR materials. Long aliphatic chains in this recycled polyol could be advantageously used for the formulation of flexible PUR floorings.Practical applications: The developed polyurethane (PUR) materials were designed for concrete final applications. The fish oil-based recycled polyol was tested for the preparation of the rigid PUR foams. The use of castor oil enabled to prepare less reactive recycled polyol and it was applied for the preparation of the compact cast PUR.

Characterization of Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Lignosulfonate- and Hydrolyzed Lignosulfonate-based Polyurethane Foams

“…Narine et al (2007) report canola, soybean, and castor oils as the raw materials for rigid PUR foams. Foams based on vegetable and animal oil-derived polyols were also investigated (Beneš et al 2012;Das et al 2009). …”

Soybean oil‐based polyurethane networks as candidate biomaterials: Synthesis and biocompatibility

“…Lipid‐based polyurethanes (PUs), polyethers, polyolefins, and polyesters with varieties of structures and properties have been synthesized, and hundreds of scientific papers have been published 7–9. Among these materials, lipid‐based PUs are of interest due to its simple preparation and wide potential applications 10–12. There have been numerous synthetic routes for preparation of lipid‐based PUs 8, 13, 14, generally fulfilled by converting plant oils into polyols, followed by curing with diisocyanate reagents 8.…”

Polyurethane foams based entirely on recycled polyols derived from natural oils

“…In our last study, FP was deeply analyzed using MALDI-TOF MS and GC-MS [12]. The MALDI-TOF mass spectrum of RP (not shown here) contained the same structures.…”

“…The mixture of recycled polyols from the glycolysis of PET waste and castor oil was tested for the preparation of PUR insulating coatings [9], waterborne PUR adhesives [10] and flame retardant rigid PUR foams [11]. In our last study, recycled polyols based on castor oil and fish oil were used in the preparation of flexible cast PUR and high density rigid PUR foams, respectively [12]. However, the most desirable low density PUR foams were not successfully prepared due to cell-opening during the foaming process.…”

“…The triple peaks (from 11.5 min to 14.4 min) in UV SEC records (Fig. 1) were assigned to the carbamate polyols and the peak at 15.3 min corresponded to the formed aromatic amines, namely 4,4´-diaminodiphenylmethane (see Scheme A) [12].…”