Production and characterization of rigid polyurethane foam by oxypropylation of organosolv lignin extracted from exhausted olive pomace

Organosolv lignin has been extracted from spent olive-pomace and converted into polyols by oxypropylation in presence of potassium hydroxide. Reaction parameters such as temperature, catalyst contents and lignin / propylene oxide ratio [L / PO (w / v)] were optimized. The macro-polyols obtained were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy,C-13 NMR,H-1 NMR, and size exclusion chromatography. The intrinsic viscosity, the amount of poly (propylene oxide) homopolymer (PPO) and the hydroxyl number (IOH) were also determined. Olive pomace- lignin based rigid polyurethane foams (RPU) have been produced and characterized. A RPU displaying specifications close to those of commercial RPU in terms of compressive strength (1.9 Mpa), density (40 Kg.m(-3)) and thermal conductivity (27 mW.mK(-1)) was produced.