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. 2020 Mar 26;12(4):738.
doi: 10.3390/polym12040738.

Rigid Polyurethane Foams with Various Isocyanate Indices Based on Polyols from Rapeseed Oil and Waste PET

Aiga Ivdre  1   2 , Arnis Abolins  1 , Irina Sevastyanova  1 , Mikelis Kirpluks  1 , Ugis Cabulis  1 , Remo Merijs-Meri  2
Affiliations

Rigid Polyurethane Foams with Various Isocyanate Indices Based on Polyols from Rapeseed Oil and Waste PET

Aiga Ivdre et al. Polymers (Basel). .

Abstract

Developing polyols derived from natural sources and recycling materials attracts great interest for use in replacing petroleum-based polyols in polyurethane production. In this study, rigid polyurethane (PUR) foams with various isocyanate indices were obtained from polyols based on rapeseed oil and polyethylene terephthalate (RO/PET). The various properties of the prepared PUR foams were investigated, and the effect of the isocyanate index was evaluated. The closed-cell content and water absorption were not impacted by the change of the isocyanate index. The most significant effect of increasing the isocyanate index was on the dimensional stability of the resulting foams. This is due to the increased crosslink density, as evidenced by the increased formation of isocyanurate and increase of the glass transition temperature. Additionally, the influence on compression strength, modulus, and long-term thermal conductivity were evaluated and compared with reference PUR foams from commercially available polyols. Rigid PUR foams from RO/PET polyol were found to be competitive with reference materials and could be used as thermal insulation material.

Keywords: bio-based polyols; dimensional stability; isocyanate index; renewable materials; rigid polyurethane foams; thermal conductivity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Sustainable material content in all series of rigid PUR foams.
Figure 2
Figure 2
FTIR spectra for RO/PET rigid PUR foams, band at 1410 cm−1.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Damping factor curves of RO/PET series rigid PUR foams.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Physical-mechanical properties: (a) The compression strength of the RO/PET and reference rigid PUR foams; (b) Compression modulus of the RO/PET and reference rigid PUR foams.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Water absorption after seven days of immersion.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Dimensional stability–volume relative change at two modes: (a) 28 days at 70 °C, ambient relative humidity (R.H.); (b) 28 days at 70 °C, R.H. = 97%.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Results of thermal conductivity: (a) Initial thermal conductivity; (b) Thermal conductivity relative change in 24 weeks.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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