CHARACTERIZATION OF FLEXIBLE SLABSTOCK FOAMS CONTAINING LITHIUM-CHLORIDE

Characterization of a series of flexible polyurethane foams that contain LiCl in their formulation is discussed. These foams were developed in order to provide an alternative method to produce foams without physical blowing agents and still attempt to maintain specific important physical properties. Three high water content foams of varying LiCl content have been characterized by utilizing several morphological techniques as well as by their viscoelastic behavior. From a morphological standpoint, it appears that by adding LiCl to the formulation, there is less formation of urea-rich aggregates that occur when LiCl is absent. Also, the hard segments are more dispersed as single units within the network. The cellular texture of the LiCl-containing foams also shows a greater amount of cellular window material than the same foam without LiCl. Both of these changes due to LiCl addition are believed to bring about a significant increase in the amount of viscoelastic decay. This decay has been observed in tensile stress relaxation, compression load relaxation, and compressive creep studies. Temperature also has a more significant effect on the compression load relaxation behavior of foams with LiCl in their formulation than when absent. These differences in viscoelastic behavior between foams with and without LiCl in their formulation are attributed to the greater mobility of the hard segments in the presence of the LiCl additive serving as a localized ''hard segment'' plasticizer that also promotes more phase mixing in the foams. (C) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.