Influence of Wood Species on the Properties of Biopolyurethane Prepared from Liquefied Wood with Residue

Biopolyurethane prepared from liquefied wood with the residue of the liquefied wood product was investigated in this article. Previous results indicated that the residue of the liquefaction product was composed mostly of compounds originated from lignin. The chemical structures of lignin in softwood and hardwood are different. The influence of soft- and hardwood species on the chemical structure and mechanical properties of biopolyurethane prepared from liquefied wood with residue was investigated by tensile testing and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The experimental results showed that the liquefaction of softwood occurs within a shorter time than that of hardwood and the biopolyurethane prepared from softwood was harder than that prepared from hardwood, which suggests that the properties of the liquefaction product and biopolyurethane are influenced by the chemical structure of the lignin. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 118: 2109-2115, 2010