Open Access

ARTICLE

Viscoelastic and Thermal Properties of Polyurethane Foams Obtained from Renewable and Recyclable Components

S. Gaidukovs^1,2,*, G. Gaidukova², A. Ivdre^1,3, U. Cabulis³

1 Faculty of Material Science and Applied Chemistry, Institute of Polymer Materials, Riga Technical University, 3/7 Paula Valdena St., LV 1048, Riga, Latvia
2 Faculty of Material Science and Applied Chemistry, Institute of Applied Chemistry, Riga Technical University, 3/7 Paula Valdena St., LV 1048, Riga, Latvia
3 Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry, 27 Dzerbenes St., LV-1006, Riga, Latvia

*Corresponding author:

Journal of Renewable Materials 2018, 6(7), 755-763. https://doi.org/10.7569/JRM.2018.634112

Abstract

This article deals with the study of the viscoelastic and thermal properties of polyurethane (PU) rigid foams from biobased and recycled components. Rapeseed oil (RO) and recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) were used to synthesize PU polyols. Addition of adipic acid (ADA) to polyol resulted in improved thermal and viscoelastic properties of foam materials. ADA content was varied from 1 to 6 wt%. Results of the dynamic mechanical spectra indicate an increase of the storage modulus E′ and the loss modulus E″ in the whole temperature range for specimens with higher loading of ADA. In addition, damping factor shifted to higher temperatures, but damping intensity remained almost unaffected by the compositions. Scanning electron microscopy of the foams’ cross sections testified that the average cells’ size of 110 mm was unaffected by the ADA content in polyol.

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Keywords

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