Properties of water blown rigid polyurethane foams with different functionality

Abstract

Water blown rigid polyurethane foams with different functionality were prepared. The physical properties of rigid foams were measured with rotational viscometer (NDJ-1), universal testing machine (Instron3365), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The results show that the viscosity of polyether polyol increases exponentially from 62 mPa·s to 6 000 mPa·s with the increase of functionality from 2 to 5.6, respectively. The overall density of foam increases slightly from 31.7 kg/m³ to 37.4 kg/m³ with increasing functionality while core density exhibited little difference. Compressive strength of foam shows the similar behavior with density except for 2-functional sample. At the same time, dimensional stability becomes better with increasing functionality except for 5.6-functional foam that has worse stability than 4.8-functional foam. From the SEM results, the functionality is not an important factor in determining distribution of cell size of foam. According to the results of thermal analysis, the glass transition temperature (T _g) shifts to a higher temperature from 128.9 ° to 166.3 ° for the 2 to 5.6 functional foam, respectively.

Keywords

polyether polyol / rigid foam / viscosity / compressive strength / dimensional stability / cell size / glass transition temperature

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