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, 13C NMR, 1H 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.