Natural Palm Olein Polyol as a Replacement for Polyether Polyols in Viscoelastic Polyurethane Foam

Abstract

The impact of replacing three polyether polyols with different levels of a single palm olein‐based natural oil polyol (NOP) was systematically correlated with the changes in foaming reactivity, cell structure, physico‐mechanical properties, and morphology of viscoelastic (VE) foams. The data show that replacing the polyether polyols with the NOP slightly increased the rate of the foaming reactivity. Increasing the NOP content resulted in increased cell size and cells remained fully open. Increased NOP content contributed to higher load bearing properties of VE foam, which can be attributed to higher functionality of NOP compared to polyether polyols. Addition of the NOP slightly increased the resilience of the foams, however, the hysteresis which is the measure of energy absorption remained mostly unaffected. Age properties, characterized by dry and humid compression sets, were mostly unaffected by the replacement of the polyether polyol with the NOP. The addition of NOP did not impact the morphology of the VE foam polymer matrix, which appears to retain a low degree of hard and soft segment domain separation. Overall, the results demonstrate a feasibility that the NOP can be used to partially replace the polyether polyols in VE polyurethane foams without significant impact on the functional performance.

Impact of the hard‐segment concentration on highly resilient polyurethane foams based on palm olein polyol

“…This trend was expected somewhat, as E‐135 NOP with a functionality of 5.2 increased the overall crosslinking density of the polyurethane foams over polyether polyols with a nominal functionality of 3. The same trend was also reported for memory (viscoelastic) polyurethane foams based on NOPs . Typically, an increase in the foam density is required to increase the load‐bearing properties of the foam.…”

“…NOPs have been used in most polyurethane products as a partial replacement for petroleum‐based polyether polyols. However, the level of NOP substitution has been limited by the impact of the NOPs on the performance of the specific polyurethane application . In previous studies, researchers have systematically examined the impact of NOPs on the properties of viscoelastic foams, and the results demonstrate that the NOPs increased the load‐bearing properties of the viscoelastic foams, and this potentially resulted in density reduction .…”

“…However, the level of NOP substitution has been limited by the impact of the NOPs on the performance of the specific polyurethane application . In previous studies, researchers have systematically examined the impact of NOPs on the properties of viscoelastic foams, and the results demonstrate that the NOPs increased the load‐bearing properties of the viscoelastic foams, and this potentially resulted in density reduction . In addition, the incorporation of NOPs reduced the ordering of hard‐ and soft‐segment domains, and this resulted in reduced resilience and increased hysteresis of the foams; this is a performance advantage for viscoelastic foams .…”

“…In previous studies, researchers have systematically examined the impact of NOPs on the properties of viscoelastic foams, and the results demonstrate that the NOPs increased the load‐bearing properties of the viscoelastic foams, and this potentially resulted in density reduction . In addition, the incorporation of NOPs reduced the ordering of hard‐ and soft‐segment domains, and this resulted in reduced resilience and increased hysteresis of the foams; this is a performance advantage for viscoelastic foams . Therefore, viscoelastic foams can be produced with higher level of NOPs without a significant impact on the performance characteristics.…”

Recent Advancement in Plant Oil Derived Polyol‐Based Polyurethane Foam for Future Perspective: A Review

“…The initial decomposition temperature of multi polyol foams was slightly lower than reference petrol–polyol based PUF. Addition of natural palm oil based polyol can replace polyether‐based polyol without loss of properties, the gel time of foam formation decreased with increase PLP content which, increases the rate of bubble formation . The average cell size of PUF increased with increase in the PLP content in the mixture.…”