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Polymers
Special Issues
Polyols and Polyurethane Foams Based on Natural Resources
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Polyols and Polyurethane Foams Based on Natural Resources

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Composites and Nanocomposites".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2024) | Viewed by 3629

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Jacek Lubczak

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Chemistry, Rzeszów University of Technology, Al. Powstańców Warszawy 6, 35-959 Rzeszów, Poland
Interests: reactions involving oxiranes and alkylene carbonates; obtaining polyetherols for heat-resistant polyurethane plastics; dissolution of sparingly soluble azacyclic compounds in order to increase their reactivity

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The excessive exploitation of non-renewable resources of petrochemical origin imposes the need to search for newer and sustainable technologies using natural resources as substitutes for petrochemical substrates. The proposed topics for this Special Issue include the synthesis, analysis, structure and study of the properties of polyols obtained from natural raw materials such as vegetable oils, starch, cellulose, chitosan, biomass etc. The obtained polyols should be used to obtain new rigid, semi-rigid and flexible polyurethane foams with favorable functional properties. The scope of this issue also includes physical modifications of polyurethane foams with natural raw materials, as well as composites containing foamed polyurethane plastics. The proposed topics may include works on the possibility of using natural raw materials to obtain auxiliary agents for polyurethane foams, such as catalysts, fillers, surfactants and flame retardants, as well as bio-based isocyanates.

Prof. Dr. Jacek Lubczak
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • natural resources
  • polyols
  • polyurethane foams
  • synthesis
  • structure
  • properties
  • modification
  • application

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 16592 KiB  
Article
Effect of Selected Bio-Components on the Cell Structure and Properties of Rigid Polyurethane Foams
by Aleksander Prociak, Michał Kucała, Maria Kurańska and Mateusz Barczewski
Polymers 2023, 15(18), 3660; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15183660 - 5 Sep 2023
Viewed by 904
Abstract
New rigid polyurethane foams (RPURFs) modified with two types of bio-polyols based on rapeseed oil were elaborated and characterized. The effect of the bio-polyols with different functionality, synthesized by the epoxidation and oxirane ring-opening method, on the cell structure and selected properties of [...] Read more.
New rigid polyurethane foams (RPURFs) modified with two types of bio-polyols based on rapeseed oil were elaborated and characterized. The effect of the bio-polyols with different functionality, synthesized by the epoxidation and oxirane ring-opening method, on the cell structure and selected properties of modified foams was evaluated. As oxirane ring-opening agents, 1-hexanol and 1.6-hexanediol were used to obtain bio-polyols with different functionality and hydroxyl numbers. Bio-polyols in different ratios were used to modify the polyurethane (PUR) composition, replacing 40 wt.% petrochemical polyol. The mass ratio of the used bio-polyols (1:0, 3:1, 1:1, 1:3, 0:1) affected the course of the foaming process of the PUR composition as well as the cellular structure and the physical and mechanical properties of the obtained foams. In general, the modification of the reference PUR system with the applied bio-polyols improved the cellular structure of the foam, reducing the size of the cells. Replacing the petrochemical polyol with the bio-polyols did not cause major differences in the apparent density (40–43 kg/m3), closed-cell content (87–89%), thermal conductivity (25–26 mW⋅(m⋅K)−1), brittleness (4.7–7.5%), or dimensional stability (<0.7%) of RPURFs. The compressive strength at 10% deformation was in the range of 190–260 and 120–190 kPa, respectively, for directions parallel and perpendicular to the direction of foam growth. DMA analysis confirmed that an increase in the bio-polyol of low functionality in the bio-polyol mixture reduced the compressive strength of the modified foams. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polyols and Polyurethane Foams Based on Natural Resources)
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16 pages, 3317 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of the Effect of Waste from Agricultural Production on the Properties of Flexible Polyurethane Foams
by Joanna Paciorek-Sadowska, Marcin Borowicz and Marek Isbrandt
Polymers 2023, 15(17), 3529; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15173529 - 24 Aug 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1063
Abstract
The management of by-products and waste from agriculture and the agri-food industry is a challenge for the plastics industry. Flexible polyurethane foams (EPPUR) containing ground corncake from corn oil production were obtained. The influence of the bio-filler on the physico-mechanical and thermal properties [...] Read more.
The management of by-products and waste from agriculture and the agri-food industry is a challenge for the plastics industry. Flexible polyurethane foams (EPPUR) containing ground corncake from corn oil production were obtained. The influence of the bio-filler on the physico-mechanical and thermal properties of synthesized flexible polyurethane foams was investigated. The content of corncake ranged from 0 php (part per 100 parts of polyol) to 10 php. Open-cell flexible polyurethane foams with a favorable comfort factor were obtained. The lower reactivity of the developed polyurethane systems was conducive to the formation of cells of slightly smaller sizes but of a more regular shape in comparison with the foam not modified with the bio-filler. Measurements of the mechanical properties indicated that the modified foams held had similar or even better properties than the reference sample without bio-filler. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polyols and Polyurethane Foams Based on Natural Resources)
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27 pages, 8348 KiB  
Article
Chitosan Oligomer as a Raw Material for Obtaining Polyurethane Foams
by Anna Strzałka, Renata Lubczak and Jacek Lubczak
Polymers 2023, 15(14), 3084; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15143084 - 18 Jul 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1145
Abstract
Decreasing oil extraction stimulates attempts to use biologically available sources to produce polyols, which are the basic components for obtaining polyurethane foams. Plants are inexhaustible source of oils, sugars, starches, and cellulose. Similar substrates to obtain polyols are chitosans. Commercially available modified chitosans [...] Read more.
Decreasing oil extraction stimulates attempts to use biologically available sources to produce polyols, which are the basic components for obtaining polyurethane foams. Plants are inexhaustible source of oils, sugars, starches, and cellulose. Similar substrates to obtain polyols are chitosans. Commercially available modified chitosans are soluble in water, which gives them the possibility to react with hydroxyalkylating agents. We used a water-soluble chitosan previously to obtain polyols suitable for producing rigid polyurethane foams. Here, we described hydroxyalkylation of a low-molecular-weight chitosan (oligomeric chitosan) with glycidol and ethylene carbonate to obtain polyols. The polyols were isolated and studied in detail by IR, 1H-NMR, and MALDI–ToF methods. Their properties, such as density, viscosity, surface tension, and hydroxyl numbers, were determined. The progress of the hydroxyalkylation reaction of water-soluble chitosan and chitosan oligomer with glycidol was compared in order to characterize the reactivity and mechanism of the process. We found that the hydroxyalkylation of chitosan with glycidol in glycerol resulted in the formation of a multifunctional product suitable for further conversion to polyurethane foams with favorable properties. The straightforward hydroxyalkylation of chitosan with glycidol was accompanied by the oligomerization of glycidol. The hydroxyalkylation of chitosan with glycidol in the presence of ethylene carbonate was accompanied by minor hydroxyalkylation of chitosan with ethylene carbonate. The chosen polyols were used to obtain rigid polyurethane foams which were characterized by physical parameters such as apparent density, water uptake, dimension stability, heat conductance, compressive strength, and heat resistance at 150 and 175 °C. The properties of polyurethane foams obtained from chitosan-oligomer and water-soluble-chitosan sources were compared. Polyurethane foams obtained from polyols synthesized in the presence of glycerol had advantageous properties such as low thermal conductivity, enhanced thermal resistance, dimensional stability, low water uptake, and high compressive strength, growing remarkably upon thermal exposure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polyols and Polyurethane Foams Based on Natural Resources)
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