Studying Effects of Different Weight Percent of Bio-Based Polyol and Water on the Rigid Polyurethane Foam Characteristics

Abstract

The reacting isocyanates were used to make polyurethane (PU) foams with varied substitutions of commercial polyol for bio-based polyol. The commercial polyol was substituted with 30%of vegetable bio-based polyols synthesized from expired sunflower oil. The presence of the alcohol group in the synthesized bio-based polyol was identified by FTIR. The thermal and mechanical properties of the rusting foam were measured for the resulting rigid polyurethane foam. Thermal conductivity, density, SEM, reaction temperature, and compressive strength were performed. The results showed when using water as a chemical blowing agent in different proportions and using bio-based polyol in proportions (20%, 30%and 40%) it was also found that the 30% bio-based substitution with 0% water provided the best thermal insulation and with 0.4%water as a chemical blowing agent, the compressive strength increased significantly. As for the density, it was lower when 20% bio-based polyol and with 0.4% water.