Development of Flexible Polyurethane Nanostructured Biocomposite Foams Derived from Palm Olein-Based Polyol

Abstract

This study examined the effect of organoclay montmorillonite (OMMT) on the mechanical properties and morphology of flexible polyurethane/OMMT nanocomposite (PU/OMMT) foams prepared from petroleum- and palm olein-based polyols. Palm-based PU foams exhibited inferior mechanical strength as compared to neat petroleum PU foams. However, addition of OMMT significantly improved the foams strength of flexible polyurethane/OMMT nanocomposite foams prepared from palm olein-based polyol (PU bionanocomposite foam). The morphology analysed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the cell size of the foam decreased with increasing OMMT content. PU bionanocomposite foam with 5 wt% of OMMT had the most improved tensile (63%) and tear (48%) strengths compared to its neat counterpart. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed the exfoliated structure of the respective foam. It was concluded that OMMT improved mechanical properties and morphology of PU foams.

POSS Compounds as Modifiers for Rigid Polyurethane Foams (Composites)

“…Moreover, the possible interphase interactions between POSS and PU in cell struts disturbed formulation of stable foam structure [27] which results in the coalescence of crowded cells. The alteration of cell morphology as the result of filler incorporation was also observed in previous studies [28,35,55].…”

“…It was reported that, in addition to traditional fillers, an interesting group of reactive nanofillers are polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS), which combine the features of organic and inorganic materials [29,30,31]. They were discovered at the beginning of the 20th century and are currently in the interest of many research centers due to their unique properties, including well-defined, three-dimensional, chemically and thermally resistant hybrid structure with nanoscopic dimensions [32,33,34,35]. Their biggest advantage is the ease of functioning with various organic or inorganic substituents.…”

Low density rigid polyurethane foam incorporated with renewable polyol as sustainable thermal insulation material

“…The formation of polyurethane foams has been studied extensively with same general reaction of isocyanate with polyol. 32 In general, the reaction demonstrates the fundamental group of the polyurethane polymer including urethane and urea linkages, uretoneimine ring structure and unreacted isocyanate. Identification of functional groups of commercial and palm-based RPUFs are demonstrated in Figure 4.…”

“…[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Moreover, partial replacement of petroleum-based polyols with biobased polyols is an alternative approach for the preparation of polyurethane for applications such as coatings, adhesives, sealant, elastomer, as well as flexible and rigid foams. [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] The possibility of utilising castor oil and crude glycerol to produce bio-based polyols and subsequently RPUFs was explored by Carrico et al 5 Different amounts and types of blowing agent (water, pentane and cyclo-pentane) and catalyst (DBTDL) were examined in the study. Increase amount of water content resulted in a decrease in density, thermal conductivity, compressive strength and Young's modulus.…”

Polyurethane Composites Reinforced with Walnut Shell Filler Treated with Perlite, Montmorillonite and Halloysite

“…This may result in poor interfacial adhesion between the filler surface and the PUR matrix, which promotes earlier cell collapsing phenomena and increases a high possibility of generating open pores [50]. Deterioration of the foam morphology after the incorporation of the filler was reported in previous studies as well [51][52][53].…”