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Recycling of waste poly(ethylene terephthalate) into flame‐retardant rigid polyurethane foams
Author(s) -
Li Mengjuan,
Luo Jun,
Huang Yanhong,
Li Xiaoqiang,
Yu Tianshi,
Ge Mingqiao
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.40857
Subject(s) - dimethyl methylphosphonate , polyurethane , limiting oxygen index , fire retardant , materials science , ethylene , ethylene glycol , catalysis , polymer chemistry , dimethyl terephthalate , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , chemistry , composite material , char , pyrolysis , engineering
Waste poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) textiles were effectively chemical recycling into flame‐retardant rigid polyurethane foams (PUFs). The PET textile wastes were glycolytically depolymerized to bis(2‐hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET) by excess ethylene glycol as depolymerizing agent and zinc acetate dihydrate as catalyst. The PUFs were produced from BHET and polymeric methane diphenyl diisocyanate. The structures of BHET and PUFs were identified by FTIR spectra. The limiting oxygen index (LOI) of the PUFs (≥23.27%) was higher than that of common PUFs (16–18%), because the aromatic substituent in the depolymerized products improved the flame retardance. To improve the LOI of the PUFs, dimethyl methylphosphonate doped PUFs (DMMP‐PUFs) were produced. The LOI of DMMP‐PUFs was approached to 27.69% with the increasing of the doped DMMP. The influences of the flame retardant on the foams density, porosity, and compression properties were studied. Furthermore, the influences of foaming agent, catalyst, and flame retardant on the flame retardation were also investigated. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131 , 40857.