Research on modifying of recycling polyol from waste polyurethane foam by vegetable oil for producing insulation materials

Abstract

Polyurethane (PU) foam is formed by the condensation of 2 components Polyol and Isocyanate. PU foam waste can be recycled by glycolysis which decomposes the polymer chains into polyol. The recycled polyol can then be used as the material to make new PU foam. However, the recycled Polyol is mixed with unprofitable primary and secondary amines, and it is not suitable for use as a raw material for the production of insulating foam because of its small average molecular weight, high hydroxyl index, etc. In this study, recycled Polyol will be modified with vegetable oil for the purpose of removing the amines mentioned above, creating the product with basic properties like commercial Polyol. Research results show that the regenerated Polyol after modification has the low hydroxyl index of 423.5 mg KOH/g and the viscosity of 4400 mPa.s, which are quite similar to that of commercial Polyol and the mass average molecular weight (2440.6) much higher than regenerated polyol.