Polyurethanes from oil based polyols

MIRMA MOSIEWICKI; NORMA E. MARCOVICH; MIRTA I. ARANGUREN

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Congreso; XXII Interamerican Congress of chemical Engineering - V Argentinian Congress of Chemical Engineering; 2006

Tung oil was the raw material selected for the synthesis of a polyol, to be further used in the formulation of rigid polyurethane polymers and composites. The synthesis of the polyol was carried out in two steps: hydroxylation of the double bonds in the fatty acid chains of the unsaturated oil and then, alcoholysis of the hydroxylated oil with triethanolamine. It was found that the hydroxyl value increased significantly after the hydroxylation and alcoholysis reactions. To produce the polyurethane matrix, the resulting polyol was mixed with MDI in THF to decrease the initial viscosity. The groups ratio NCO to OH was optimized to be used in the manufacture of reinforced rigid polyurethanes. The same procedure was used to prepare the composites, but in this case the MDI was previously mixed with the filler. Neat and wood flour-reinforced samples were cured at 75ºC under a pressure of 4 MPa. Physical, thermal and mechanical properties of the neat and reinforced polyurethanes were measured and analyzed.