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Review
. 2018 Sep 27;11(10):1841.
doi: 10.3390/ma11101841.

Polyurethane Foams: Past, Present, and Future

Nuno V Gama  1 , Artur Ferreira  2   3 , Ana Barros-Timmons  4
Affiliations
Review

Polyurethane Foams: Past, Present, and Future

Nuno V Gama et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

Polymeric foams can be found virtually everywhere due to their advantageous properties compared with counterparts materials. Possibly the most important class of polymeric foams are polyurethane foams (PUFs), as their low density and thermal conductivity combined with their interesting mechanical properties make them excellent thermal and sound insulators, as well as structural and comfort materials. Despite the broad range of applications, the production of PUFs is still highly petroleum-dependent, so this industry must adapt to ever more strict regulations and rigorous consumers. In that sense, the well-established raw materials and process technologies can face a turning point in the near future, due to the need of using renewable raw materials and new process technologies, such as three-dimensional (3D) printing. In this work, the fundamental aspects of the production of PUFs are reviewed, the new challenges that the PUFs industry are expected to confront regarding process methodologies in the near future are outlined, and some alternatives are also presented. Then, the strategies for the improvement of PUFs sustainability, including recycling, and the enhancement of their properties are discussed.

Keywords: enhancement of properties; new processing methodologies; polyurethane foams; sustainability.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Scheme 1
Scheme 1
Reaction scheme of urethane production [10].
Figure 1
Figure 1
Global consumption of polyurethane (PU) in 2016.
Scheme 2
Scheme 2
Reaction scheme of the isocyanate with water [10].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percentage of publications searched by the Web of Science related to the use of renewable feedstocks for the production of polyurethane foams (PUFs).
Scheme 3
Scheme 3
Epoxidation reaction of vegetable oil followed by oxirane ring-opening.
Scheme 4
Scheme 4
Cycloaddition of carbon dioxide into epoxidized soybean oil (ESBO) and subsequent aminolysis of cyclocarbonated soybean oil (CSBO) using a primary amine.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Percentage of publications searched by the Web of Science that were related to the recycling of PUs.
Scheme 5
Scheme 5
Reaction scheme of the hydrolysis of PU.
Scheme 6
Scheme 6
Reaction scheme of the aminolysis of PU.
Scheme 7
Scheme 7
Reaction scheme of the alcoholysis of PU.
Scheme 8
Scheme 8
Reaction scheme of the glycolysis of PU.
Scheme 9
Scheme 9
Reaction scheme of the acidolysis of PU.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Representation of heat transfer mechanism in polymeric foams (adapted from [207]).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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