Water absorption properties of polyurethane foam reinforced with paper pulp

Abstract

Polyurethane foams are widely used for furniture, cushioning and thermal insulation applications. However, there has been limited research on polyurethane foam applications that focus on water absorptivity, as the polyurethane foam is hydrophobic in nature. Hence, this research aims to reinforce polyurethane foam with paper pulp to enhance its water- absorbing properties, potentially allowing it to be utilized in new applications like growing plants. This study conducted an investigation on the effect of filler loading, cellular structure, and water-absorbing properties. It has been noted that the addition of paper pulp filler causes a reduction in cell size and wall thickness. Water absorptivity and water retention are found to be correlated with the cell structure, and they improve as the cell size increases. It was found that 4 wt% of paper pulp reinforced polyurethane foam demostrated satisfactory water absorption (11.5%) and water retention properties (75.9%) among the samples, potentially to apply as plantation foam.