Polyurethane foam from grape-seed-based polyol

Abstract

Grape seeds are abundant in the wine production process. Liquefying them into polyether polyols has been proved a suitable utilization route. Although grape seeds can be liquefied without fractionation, different components have different properties, which might ultimately affect the properties of the polyether polyol. In this study, grape seeds were fractionated by different pretreatment methods. The obtained components or residues were used to synthesize polyether polyols, which were subsequently used for polyurethane foam (PUF) synthesis. The key properties of the PUF were investigated. The results showed that grape seed lignin-based polyols distinctively improved the thermal stability of PUF and increased its density. However, there was almost no difference in the liquefaction ratio between whole grape seeds and their components. This implies that grape seed could be liquefied without fractionation to reduce production costs unless special requirements such as thermal stability are required.