The effect of nanosilica filler on the foaming process and properties of flexible polyurethane foams obtained with rapeseed oil-based polyol

Abstract

In this paper, the analysis of the foaming process of flexible polyurethane modified with the addition of silica nanoparticles is presented. Flexible polyurethane foams (FPURF) were obtained using petrochemical components and a rapeseed-oil-based polyol (used in an amount of 20 wt %). Nanosilica was added to the polyurethane system in the amount of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 php (parts per hundred polyols). The characteristic parameters of the foaming process, such as the growth velocity of foamed materials, the core temperature and dielectric polarization, were measured using a Foamat device. It was observed that polyurethane-forming reactions slowed down as an effect of the increase of nanosilica content in the polyurethane composition. Consequently, the temperature in the core of the reaction mixture containing 1.5 php nanosilica was lower by approx. 35 °C compared to the reference material. Moreover, the influence of the method of homogenization of the nanofiller with polyols on the selected properties of prepared foams was analyzed. The following properties of flexible polyurethane foams were determined: apparent density, resilience, compressive strength, hardness, hysteresis and support factor. The introduction of nanosilica filler to the polyurethane formulation caused an increase in the apparent density from 24.6 kg/m3 for the reference foam to 28.5 kg/m3 for the foam containing 1.5 php of nanosilica. However, this nanofiller did not significantly affect the cell structure of foamed materials. The foams obtained with the nanosilica additive of 1.0 php had the most preferred properties, such as a slightly higher value of resilience, lower hardness and higher support factor than the reference foam without nanosilica.