Abstract
High-quality rigid polyurethane (PU) foam thermal insulation material has been developed solely using bio-polyols synthesized from second-generation bio-based feedstock. High functionality bio-polyols were synthesized from cellulose production side stream—tall oil fatty acids by oxirane ring-opening as well as esterification reactions with different polyfunctional alcohols, such as diethylene glycol, trimethylolpropane, triethanolamine, and diethanolamine. Four different high functionality bio-polyols were combined with bio-polyol obtained from tall oil esterification with triethanolamine to develop rigid PU foam formulations applicable as thermal insulation material. The developed formulations were optimized using response surface modeling to find optimal bio-polyol and physical blowing agent: c-pentane content. The optimized bio-based rigid PU foam formulations delivered comparable thermal insulation properties to the petro-chemical alternative.
Highlights
Today, the European Union (EU) acknowledges that bio-based materials play a key role in the transition from a fossil to a bio-based economy, and they are essential to the development of a more circular and decarbonized economy fossil fuel carbon intensity
Two subsequent processes carried out high functionality TOFA-based bio-polyol synthesis from
The first step of high functionality TOFA-based bio-polyol synthesis was TOFA epoxidation using in-situ formed peroxyacetic acid; this step was described in a previous study by Vanags et al [64]
Summary
The European Union (EU) acknowledges that bio-based materials play a key role in the transition from a fossil to a bio-based economy, and they are essential to the development of a more circular and decarbonized economy fossil fuel carbon intensity. The use of fossil sources as raw materials in the industry is not circular and exhibits high carbon intensity [1]. Raw materials from natural resources have virtually infinite renewability. Bio-based feedstocks are viewed as suitable for the circular economy model and as a way to reduce the carbon footprint [1,2,3]. One of the most suitable raw materials for the production of bio-based plastics are fatty acids that are found in plants in the form of triglycerides. The global production of vegetable oils amounted to 205 million metric tons (Mt) in 2019 [7]
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