Bio-Based Polyols from Seed Oils for Water-Blown Rigid Polyurethane Foam Preparation

The preparation of water-blown rigid polyurethane (RPUR) foams using bio-based polyols from sesame seed oil and pumpkin seed oil has been reported. Polyols synthesis involved two steps, namely, hydroxylation and alcoholysis reaction. FTIR, NMR, and ESI-MS were used to monitor the process of the synthesized polyols and their physicochemical properties were determined. The resulting polyols have OH number in the range of 340-351 mg KOH/g. RPUR foams blown with water were produced from the reaction of biopolyols with commercial polymeric methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (PMDI). The proper PUR formulations can be manipulated to produce the desired material applications. These seed oil-based RPUR foams exhibited relatively high compressive strength (237.7-240.2 kPa) with the density in the range of 40-45 kg/m(3). Additionally, the cell foam morphology investigated by scanning electron microscope indicated that their cellular structure presented mostly polygonal closed cells. The experimental results demonstrate that these bio-based polyols can be used as an alternative starting material for RPUR production.