Polyurethane Foams for Thermal Insulation Uses Produced from Castor Oil and Crude Glycerol Biopolyols
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Laboratório de Produtos da Biomassa, Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antonio Carlos, 6627, 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
2
Laboratório de Física de Superfícies, Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antonio Carlos, 6627, 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Molecules 2017, 22(7), 1091; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules22071091
Received: 7 April 2017
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Revised: 14 June 2017
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Accepted: 15 June 2017
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Published: 2 July 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Polymers and Biopolymers)
Rigid polyurethane foams were synthesized using a renewable polyol from the simple physical mixture of castor oil and crude glycerol. The effect of the catalyst (DBTDL) content and blowing agents in the foams’ properties were evaluated. The use of physical blowing agents (cyclopentane and n-pentane) allowed foams with smaller cells to be obtained in comparison with the foams produced with a chemical blowing agent (water). The increase of the water content caused a decrease in density, thermal conductivity, compressive strength, and Young’s modulus, which indicates that the increment of CO2 production contributes to the formation of larger cells. Higher amounts of catalyst in the foam formulations caused a slight density decrease and a small increase of thermal conductivity, compressive strength, and Young’s modulus values. These green foams presented properties that indicate a great potential to be used as thermal insulation: density (23–41 kg·m−3), thermal conductivity (0.0128–0.0207 W·m−1·K−1), compressive strength (45–188 kPa), and Young’s modulus (3–28 kPa). These biofoams are also environmentally friendly polymers and can aggregate revenue to the biodiesel industry, contributing to a reduction in fuel prices.
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Keywords:
polyurethane foams; castor oil; crude glycerol; biopolyols; thermal insulator
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MDPI and ACS Style
Carriço, C.S.; Fraga, T.; Carvalho, V.E.; Pasa, V.M.D. Polyurethane Foams for Thermal Insulation Uses Produced from Castor Oil and Crude Glycerol Biopolyols. Molecules 2017, 22, 1091. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules22071091
AMA Style
Carriço CS, Fraga T, Carvalho VE, Pasa VMD. Polyurethane Foams for Thermal Insulation Uses Produced from Castor Oil and Crude Glycerol Biopolyols. Molecules. 2017; 22(7):1091. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules22071091
Chicago/Turabian StyleCarriço, Camila S., Thaís Fraga, Vagner E. Carvalho, and Vânya M.D. Pasa. 2017. "Polyurethane Foams for Thermal Insulation Uses Produced from Castor Oil and Crude Glycerol Biopolyols" Molecules 22, no. 7: 1091. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules22071091
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