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Bio‐based flexible polyurethane foam synthesized from palm oil and natural rubber
Author(s) -
Jaratrotkamjorn Ruedee,
Tanrattanakul Varaporn
Publication year - 2020
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.49310
Subject(s) - polyurethane , natural rubber , polyol , sodium borohydride , materials science , palm oil , polymer , renewable resource , natural polymers , chemical engineering , polymer chemistry , organic chemistry , chemistry , catalysis , composite material , renewable energy , food science , electrical engineering , engineering
As environment friendly polymers are required to reduce the green‐house gas emissions and global warming, bio‐based polyurethane foam (PUF) is attracting interest from the industrial sector and researchers. Bio‐based polyols for PUF have been synthesized from various renewable resources, mostly plant oils. The present study explored a novel bio‐based PUF produced from a mixture of bio‐based polyols synthesized from palm oil and natural rubber. Palm oil‐based polyol (POP) was synthesized via an epoxidation reaction of double bonds of palm oil followed by complete oxirane ring‐opening. Hydroxy telechelic natural rubber (HTNR) was synthesized by oxidative degradation using periodic acid and sodium borohydride. For comparison, two diisocyanates were used: toluene‐2,4‐diisocyanate and polymeric methylene diphenyl diisocyanate. POP and HTNR were miscible and all PUFs showed polyhedral semi‐closed cells and hardness was in the flexible foam range. One possible application of the novel PUF could be thermal insulation.