Elham Azadeh¹, Ummi Hani Abdullah^2,3, Christine Gerardin^1,*, Antonio Pizzi^1,*, Philippe Gerardin¹, Cesar Segovia⁴

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.11, No.10, pp. 3625-3645, 2023, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2023.030373 - 10 August 2023

Abstract Water repellant, flexible biofoams using tannin esterified with various fatty acid chains, namely lauric, palmitic and oleic acids, by reaction with lauryl chloride, palmitoyl chloride, and oleyl chloride were developed and their characteristics compared with the equivalently esterified rigid biofoams. Glycerol, while initially added to control the reaction temperature, was used as a plasticizer yielding flexible biofoams presenting the same water repellant character that the equivalent rigid foams. Acetaldehyde was used as the cross-linking agent instead of formaldehyde, as it showed a better performance with the esterified tannin. The compression results showed a significant decrease… More >

Elham Azadeh¹, Xinyi Chen², Antonio Pizzi^2,*, Christine Gérardin¹, Philip Gérardin¹, Hisham Essawy³

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.12, pp. 3217-3227, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.022740 - 14 July 2022

Abstract Non-isocyanate polyurethane (NIPU) foams using a hydrolysable tannin, also vulgarly called tannic acid, namely here commercial chestnut wood tannin extract was prepared. Compression strength did not appear to depend on the foam apparent density while the formulation composition of the NIPU foams has been shown to be more determinant. These NIPU foams appeared to be self-extinguishing once the high temperature flame is removed. The ignition time gave encouraging results but for improved fire resistance the foams may need some fire-retardant addition. FTIR spectrometry showed the formation of non-isocyanate urethane linkages. Thermogravimetric analysis indicated a good More >

Christian Brütting¹, Julia Dreier², Christian Bonten², Volker Altstädt¹, Holger Ruckdäschel^1,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.9, No.11, pp. 1859-1868, 2021, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.016244 - 04 June 2021

Abstract Polylactide (PLA) bead foams show a high potential regarding their applicability in packaging or consumer products. Concerning the comparable properties of PLA to Polystyrene (PS) and the good CO₂ footprint it represents a potential alternative to petroleum-based polymer foams. However, foaming of PLA is challenging, due to its low melt strength, therefore chemical modifiers are often used. Concerning the bead foam technology regarding PLA, the available literature is limited so far. Within this study, the bead foaming behavior of neat and modified amorphous PLA was investigated. The material was modified by talc and an epoxy-based chain More >

Ilze Beverte^1,*, Vairis Shtrauss¹, Aldis Kalpinsh¹, Uldis Lomanovskis¹, Ugis Cabulis², Irina Sevastyanova², Sergejs Gaidukovs³

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.8, No.9, pp. 1151-1170, 2020, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2020.010215 - 03 August 2020

Abstract Early investigations of dielectric permittivity of rigid polyurethane foams at low frequencies were made on petrochemical-origin foams, mainly by means of parallel plate capacitors. In the present investigation biopolyol was synthesized from Latvia-grown rapeseeds’ oil by the transesterification method with triethanolamine, in an environmentally friendly process, without emission of harmful substances, at temperatures 175°C ± 5°C. Rigid, closed-cell rapeseed oil polyol polyurethane biofoams and petrochemical foams were made ensuring content of the renewable rapeseed oil polyol in ready foams 27 wt.%–29 wt.%. Dielectric permittivity of the polyurethane foams and the underlying monolithic petrochemical-origin polyurethane and… More >

Antonio Pizzi*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.5, pp. 477-492, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.06511

Abstract This review details the development of tannin-based biofoams for fire resistance and acoustic insulation and details the different varieties of these foams that have been developed, from tannin-furanic self-blowing foams to tannin-furanic polyurethanes and finally non-isocyanate tannin-based-carbohydrates polyurethanes (NIPU). More >

Xuedong Xi^1,2, A. Pizzi^1,*, C. Gerardin³, Guanben Du²

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.3, pp. 301-312, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.04174 - 14 July 2021

Abstract Glucose-based non-isocyanate polyurethanes (NIPU) were prepared by reaction of glucose with dimethyl carbonate and hexamethylene diamine. These were used to prepare partially biobased polyurethane foams by reaction with NaHCO3 as a blowing agent and addition of a silane coupling agent having different functions such as coreactant and adjuvant to obtain more uniform and smaller cells. The foams were foamed and hardened by applying heat. The foams presented very limited fire resistance indicating that as for synthetic polyurethane foams the eventual use of a fire retardant appears to be necessary. The 2 hours water absorption was More >

M. Himabindu¹, K. Kamalakar², MSL Karuna², Aruna Palanisamy^1*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.5, No.2, pp. 124-131, 2017, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2016.634137

Abstract Rigid polyurethane biofoams were prepared from karanja polyol which was derived by ring-opening reaction of epoxidized karanja oil. The polyol, which had a hydroxyl value of 186 mg KOH/g, was thoroughly characterized and the structure confirmed by spectral techniques. The foam formulations were developed to achieve shrinkage-free foams with water used as the blowing agent. The resulting foams were characterized for their mechanical properties like density, compression strength and flexural strength. The densities and mechanical properties, such as compression and flexural strength, varied with the amount of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) for a fixed amount More >