Investigation to Obtain Polyols from Residual Frying Oil

Abstract

. Polymeric materials based on petroleum have generated a major problem for the environment because they are produced by non-renewable sources. Many studies are being conducted to propose alternatives to obtain polymers from renewable raw materials sources. The disadvantage of this alternative is the use of food sources for polymer production but this is avoided when using the residual frying oil. Aiming to obtain polymer-based urethanes, pretreated residual frying oil samples were submitted to various conditions of hydroxylation and analyzed by FT-IR, where it was possible to observe the presence of-OH groups. To optimize the process of hydroxylation a new research was conducted to determine the concentrations of formic acid and hydrogen peroxide that can generate polyols with high levels of hydroxylation index, suitable for the formation of urethanes.