Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Polyols from Rapeseed Oil and Properties of Flexible Polyurethane Foams
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Department of Biotechnology and Renewable Materials, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Cracow University of Technology, Warszawska 24, Cracow 31-155, Poland
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Department of Chemistry and Technology of Polymers, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Cracow University of Technology, Warszawska 24, Cracow 31-155, Poland
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Polymers 2012, 4(3), 1462-1477; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym4031462
Received: 21 May 2012
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Revised: 18 July 2012
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Accepted: 24 July 2012
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Published: 10 August 2012
The application of raw materials derived from renewable feedstock has given rise to growing interest recently, as it can be exploited for the production of bio-based materials from vegetable oils. Their availability, biodegradability and low prices have been taken into account. In this work, vegetable oil-based polyols as a prospective replacement for petroleum polyols were investigated. A two-stage method for polyol preparation by incomplete epoxidation of natural oils and subsequent complete oxirane ring opening under microwave irradiation is presented. The course of epoxidation and oxirane ring-opening process was determined analytically by an evaluation of iodine, epoxy and hydroxyl values. The samples of oils and their derivatives were also analyzed by FT-IR and characterized by size exclusion chromatography (SEC) in order to calculate their functionalities. Finally, polyols with two different hydroxyl values were obtained and used for the synthesis of flexible polyurethane (PUR) foams. The scope of this research includes the determination of the relationship between the rapeseed oil-based polyol content and the properties of the resulting materials. It was found that applying bio-based polyols in conjunction with petroleum-based polyols for PUR foams formulations resulted in materials with good mechanical properties and a higher number of cells with smaller dimensions.
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Keywords:
renewable feedstock; biopolymer; polyurethane; flexible foam
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MDPI and ACS Style
Dworakowska, S.; Bogdal, D.; Prociak, A. Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Polyols from Rapeseed Oil and Properties of Flexible Polyurethane Foams. Polymers 2012, 4, 1462-1477. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym4031462
AMA Style
Dworakowska S, Bogdal D, Prociak A. Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Polyols from Rapeseed Oil and Properties of Flexible Polyurethane Foams. Polymers. 2012; 4(3):1462-1477. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym4031462
Chicago/Turabian StyleDworakowska, Sylwia, Dariusz Bogdal, and Aleksander Prociak. 2012. "Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Polyols from Rapeseed Oil and Properties of Flexible Polyurethane Foams" Polymers 4, no. 3: 1462-1477. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym4031462
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