Abstract
Flexible polyurethane/organically modified nanoclay (organoclay) nanocomposite foams were synthesized by a two-step reactive process. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and tensile and compression tests have been used in order to investigate clay dispersion, cellular morphology, tensile properties, and dimensional stability, respectively. The XRD patterns of a polyurethane foam sample containing 2 wt.% of nanoclay revealed clay intercalation. Furthermore, SEM images of the prepared foams showed that incorporation of clay into the polyurethane foams results in a reduction of cell size as well as an increase in cell density, and these phenomena were explained on the basis of nucleation promotion in the presence of clay. In addition, tensile modulus of the prepared foams was shown to be improved by incorporation of clay. The results obtained from the compression tests proved that the incorporation of clay into the polyurethane foams leads to deterioration of their dimensional stability. The results obtained from the mechanical studies were interpreted on the basis of physical and chemical interactions between clay surface and polyurethane chains.
Highlights
Flexible polyurethane foams are used in many applications because of their ease of handling, excellent cushioning, and tunable physical properties [1]
Clay dispersion in the prepared nanocomposite foams The layered silicates of nanoclay can act as nucleation sites and increase cell density for final foam [11]
Nanoclay with a concentration of 2 wt.% was added to the polymer in order to study the morphology of the prepared polyurethane/ nanoclay composite using X-ray diffraction (XRD)
Summary
Flexible polyurethane foams are used in many applications because of their ease of handling, excellent cushioning, and tunable physical properties [1]. It has been proven that nanoclay, especially after exfoliation and surface modification, is an effective nucleation agent to enhance cell density and to increase the interaction with blowing agent. It seems that flexible polyurethane/ nanoclay nanocomposite foams represent more superior and practical properties compared with their counterpart conventional foams. The present work was conducted in order to investigate the effects of incorporation of organically modified nanoclay on dimensional stability of flexible polyurethane foam. Afterwards, the effect of clay incorporation on various characteristics of the prepared foams including cellular morphology, cell size, cell density, tensile properties, and dimensional stability was investigated
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