Novel isophorone diisocyanate-based flexible polyurethane foams were prepared by the one-step method in a computerized foam qualification system (FOAMAT). The experimental conditions to obtain this type of foams, in relation to the nature and concentration of catalysts as well as the reaction temperature, were established as no data were available in scientific literature. The chemical reactions occurring during the foam generation process were monitored in situ by attenuated total reflectance-FTIR spectroscopy. The kinetics of the foam generation was fitted to an nth order model and the data showed that the foaming process adjusted to a first-order kinetics. The physical changes as pressure, foam height, and dielectric polarization were monitored by the FOAM software (FOAMAT). According to these parameters, the foaming process was divided into four steps: bubble growth, bubble packing, cell opening, and final curing.

This work reports on the fire behavior of isophorone diisocyanate‐based polyurethane foams containing different conventional flame retardants (FRs) such as melamine, ammonium polyphosphate, aluminum hydroxide, expandable graphite, and their combinations. The foams were obtained in a laboratory scale and characterized in terms of their morphology, density, thermal stability, and fire behavior. According to atomic force microscopy, the incorporation of FRs decreased the phase separated domain size. The cellular structure of the foams was examined qualitatively by scanning electron microscopy while the quantitative analysis of the surrounding skin was performed by optical microscopy and Image J. The FR containing foams showed more and smaller cells. The thermogravimetric analysis showed that the FRs had no influence in the initial degradation temperature of the foams. However, the obtained residue values were higher than the theoretical ones, indicating that there was some type of interaction between the FRs and the foams. The fire behavior of polyurethane foams was studied by the cone calorimeter and the data showed that the introduction of expandable graphite and combinations of ammonium polyphosphate/melamine to the reference foam gave rise to a significant reduction in the total heat release. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018, 135, 45944.

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