Elżbieta Malewska

Flexible polyurethane foams (FPURFs) with varied concentration of water from 3.2 to 4.2% and rapeseed oil based polyol (ROP) in the range of 13–22% in polyol premix were obtained. Effects of changes in polyurethane (PUR) formulation on the foaming process and mechanical properties of FPURFs were analyzed. It was found that the change of water content in PUR formulation influences its foaming process. Higher water content in the PUR formulation increases the growth velocity and the temperature of reaction mixture. In the case of foams modified with ROP, an opposite effect can be observed, where higher content of that component resulted in overall downturn of the foaming process and decreases of registered temperature inside the foams core. An addition of ROP beneficially influences on foams cellular structure favoring creation of finer cells. Such modification of PUR formulation with ROP increased apparent density, reduced hardness, and resilience of flexible foams. What is more the support factor of FPURFs with ROP was higher in comparison to the reference foam. Along with higher water content in the PUR formulation, apparent density and hardness has decreased and foams ability to absorb energy has been increased. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 42372.

This study presents a method of obtaining porous materials based on the rigid polyurethane foam (RPURF) as the matrix and containing thermoplastic polystyrene beads (EPS) as the fillers. In RPURF-EPS composites, the compact EPS were expanded after heating above a glass transition temperature of the EPS and gas vapouring incorporated inside the EPS, by using heat of exothermic reaction of polyol with isocyanate. The thermal conductivity, compressive strength, core density and cell structure of the new materials were investigated