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. 2020 Nov 16;13(22):5161.
doi: 10.3390/ma13225161.

A Pathway toward a New Era of Open-Cell Polyurethane Foams-Influence of Bio-Polyols Derived from Used Cooking Oil on Foams Properties

Maria Kurańska  1 , Elżbieta Malewska  1 , Krzysztof Polaczek  1 , Aleksander Prociak  1 , Joanna Kubacka  1
Affiliations

A Pathway toward a New Era of Open-Cell Polyurethane Foams-Influence of Bio-Polyols Derived from Used Cooking Oil on Foams Properties

Maria Kurańska et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

In order to create greener polyurethane (PUR) foams, modified used cooking oils (UCO) were applied as starting resources for the synthesis of bio-polyols. The bio-polyols were produced using transesterification of UCO with diethylene glycol (UCO_DEG) and triethanolamine (UCO_TEA). Next, open-cell PUR foams were synthesized by replacing 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100% of the petrochemical polyol with the bio-polyol UCO_DEG or UCO_TEA. It was observed that an increasing bio-polyol content (up to 60%) led to an increase of the closed cell content. However, a further increase in the bio-polyol content up to 100% resulted in foam cell opening. The bio-foams obtained in the experiment had an apparent density of 13-18 kg/m3. The coefficient of thermal conductivity was determined at three different average temperatures: 10, 0 and -10 °C. The PUR bio-foams modified with bio-polyol UCO_TEA had lower values of thermal conductivity, regardless of the average temperature (35.99-39.57 mW/m·K) than the foams modified with bio-polyol UCO_DEG (36.95-43.78 mW/m·K). The compressive strength of most of the bio-foams was characterized by a higher value than the compressive strength of the reference material (without bio-polyol). Finally, it was observed that the bio-materials exhibited dimensional stability at 70 °C.

Keywords: bio-polyols; green open-cell polyurethane foams; modified used cooking oil; spray foams.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
GPC chromatograms (a) and FTIR spectra (b) of bio-polyols.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Bio-polyols UCO_DEG and UCO_TEA with different contents and their influence on on dielectric polarization (a,b), temperature (c,d) and pressure (e,f) of reaction mixtures.
Figure 3
Figure 3
SEM images of foams cell structure in cross-sections: (a) parallel and (b) perpendicular with respect to direction of foam rise.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Equivalent diameter (a) and closed cell content (b) of bio-foams altered with bio-polyols in different amounts.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Time of max pressure occurrence and curing time of polyurethane (PUR) systems.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Photographs of PUR samples OPU_DEG_20 (a) and OPU_DEG_40 (b).
Figure 7
Figure 7
Influence of bio-polyols and their content on apparent density (a) and compressive strength (b) of modified foams.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Normalized compression strength of PUR foams.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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