POLYURETHANE FOAMS BASED ON NATURAL RESOURSES

G. DELL'ARCIPRETE; M.I ARANGUREN; M. MOSIEWICKI; N.E. MARCOVICH

Los Cocos, Córdoba, Argentina

Simposio; III Argentine-Chilean Polymer Symposium. Archipol2005; 2005

There is an ample variety of reactives that can be used in the synthesis of polyurethanes (PU), the possibilities for their formulation are almost unlimited and allow to obtain materials with properties from those of flexible elastomers to rigid crosslinked PU, that can be used as structural materials. Nevertheless, the majority of the polyols used for polyurethane manufacture are derived from petroleum reserves (Chian and Gan, 1998). Since petrochemical sources are rapidly diminishing and the number of applications of polyurethanic materials continues to increase, an alternative source for producing them becomes more important.  Natural oils, which can be derived from both plant and animal sources, are found in abundance in all parts of the world, making them an ideal alternative chemical feedstock (Knot et al, 2001). In addition, natural fibers are a low density and sustainable natural resource, and become an attractive alternative of cheap reinforcement for polymeric materials (Marcovich et al, 1998). The aim of this work is to obtain wood flour reinforced rigid polyurethane foams using a polyol derived from castor oil.  The relationship between filler content, density and the resulted thermal and mechanical properties is presented.