Green rigid polyurethane foam from hydroxyl liquid natural rubbers as macro-hydroxyl polyols

Abstract

The novel renewable source precursors from hydroxyl liquid natural rubbers (HLNRs) with various secondary hydroxyl content of 22% (HLNR22), 35% (HLNR35), and 50% (HLNR50) (or naming macro-hydroxyl polyols) were used to prepare rigid polyurethane foam. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of hydroxyl content of HLNR precursors and the ratio of HLNRs and commercial polyols on physico-mechanical properties of rigid polyurethane foams in comparison to foams made from commercial polyols. The increase in hydroxyl content of HLNRs resulted in the foams with larger cell size while the increase in the HLNR portion caused a small and more uniform cell size, which is related to their density and compressive strength. Thermal stability of polyurethane foams was analyzed by thermogravimetric analysis and the results have demonstrated that the use of HLNR polyols improved thermal stability of polyurethane foams in comparison to commercial foam.