The impact of replacing polyether polyol with different levels of a palm‐olein‐based natural oil polyol (NOP) was systematically correlated with the changes in the foaming reactivities, cell structures, physicomechanical properties, and morphologies of highly resilient (HR) polyurethane foams. Replacing the polyether polyol with the NOP did not require us to significantly modify the formulation to obtain stabile foams with uniform and open cell structures. The incorporation of the NOP increased the tear strength and load‐bearing capacity of the HR polyurethane foams; this was attributed to the high functionality and lower equivalent weight of the NOP. The addition of the NOP increased the energy‐absorbing properties of the molded HR foams; this correlated with the increased phase mixing of hard and soft segments, as determined via dynamic mechanical analysis and Fourier transform infrared analyses. The HR‐molded foams’ hysteresis and compression sets, which are inversely correlated with the durability of HR‐molded foams in automotive seating applications, were found to increase with the addition of the NOP. However, it was demonstrated that the changes in the hysteresis and compression set could be partially offset by the reduction of the isocyanate index, which could allow for the increased incorporation of the NOPs in the HR foams without a notable loss of key performance characteristics. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 45440.

Palm olein-based polyol (PP) was used as a partial replacement for commercial sucrose/glycerine initiated polyether polyol (GP) for the production of low density rigid polyurethane foams (RPUFs). The hydroxyl value (OHV) of the GP was 380 mg KOH/g, whereas the OHV for PP was 360 mg KOH/g. The RPUFs were prepared by replacing the GP with PP up to 50 parts per hundred parts of polyols (pph). Characterisation of the RPUFs, including density, compressive strength and strain, cell morphology and thermal conductivity ( k-value), were conducted. The dimensional stability of the foams was also evaluated. The study showed improvement in the compressive strength and strain for palm-based RPUFs with the incorporation of up to 30 pph PP as compared to GP foams. The lowest k-value (0.0232 W/m.K) of RPUF with density below 30 kg/m3 was obtained with the incorporation of 10 pph PP. This was due to the smallest and uniform pore size distribution observed using SEM images. The dimensional stability of the RPUF prepared from PP was within the acceptable range. Thus, the RPUFs made from PP are potential candidates to be used as insulation for refrigerators, freezers and piping.

Structure–property behavior of the palm olein-based natural oil polyol (E-135 NOP) was investigated in viscoelastic “memory” foams. In a model viscoelastic foam formulation, the E-135 NOP with pendant hydroxyls was used as a drop-in replacement for the well-defined model polyether polyol with terminal hydroxyls, Poly-G® 76-120. Both polyols have comparable equivalent weight and concentrations of primary and secondary hydroxyls. The data showed that replacing Poly-G® 76-120 polyether polyol with the E-135 NOP did not significantly impact the foaming reactivity. Increasing the E-135 NOP concentration in the VE foams increased the average foam cell size while maintaining the open cell structure. Aging properties of the VE foams were mostly unaffected by the replacement of the Poly-G® 76-120 with the E-135 NOP. Furthermore, addition of E-135 had no impact on foam density; however, it increased the support factor of the viscoelastic foams. Differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical analyzer, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses indicate less defined morphological separation of hard and soft segments in the viscoelastic foams with higher concentration of E-135 NOP. Overall, the results demonstrated the feasibility that natural oil polyols can be used in viscoelastic polyurethane foams to replace a significant portion of the polyether polyols with comparable equivalent weights and concentrations of primary and secondary hydroxyls. In future, the feasibility study of E-135 NOP as a drop-in replacement of combination polyether polyols in viscoelastic foams formulation will be conducted. Furthermore, the effect of palm olein-based natural oil polyol in high resilience foam will be evaluated.