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Polyurethane preparation

Zeinab Ahmed Elbhnsawi

193247

Submitted to: Dr. Mostafa Radwan

Polymer Chemistry

Year 2, Chemical Engineering

The British University in Egypt

Paper format: APA style with BUE guidelines

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Abstract

The following lab report discusses an experiment in which polyurethane foam is prepared using

polyols with diisocyanates or polymeric isocyanates and some fillers such as silica and calcium

carbonate in this experiment. Three foam beakers were produced consisting pure foam, calcium

carbonate and silica foam where all of them got to be tested mechanically in order to know their

compressive strength where in pure foam was found to be 0.790 kN, CaCO3 was found to be

0.750 kN and silica was found to be 1.495 kN.

Keywords: polyurethane, fillers, silica, polymers, compressive strength.

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Table of contents

Abstract..........................................................................................................................................2

Table of contents............................................................................................................................3

Introduction....................................................................................................................................4

Experimental procedure...............................................................................................................8

Experimental materials.............................................................................................................8

Experimental procedure............................................................................................................8

Experimental results......................................................................................................................9

Discussion.....................................................................................................................................14

Conclusion....................................................................................................................................16

Sources of error............................................................................................................................17

References.....................................................................................................................................18

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Introduction

Polymers are any material, synthetic or natural that consist of huge molecules that are

composed of monomers which are simple chemical units. Polymers exists in all life aspects and

in many forms where everything is can be a polymer where polymers are not conditioned to have

one type of monomers where some polymers may have two or more than two different type oof

polymers where they are called copolymers (Britannica, 2021) .

Figure 1. polymer

Polymers can be classified into thermoset and thermoplastic polymers according to some factors.

Thermoset polymers are polymers that reacts to heat by gaining more strength and cannot be

reshaped or changed after it is initially formed, they are three dimensioned polymers that has

very strong molecular forces among its bonds, impossible to melt or change from one form to

another, forms very strong and hard polymers, may be able to swell but never dissolve and

cannot be reformed. From the thermosetting polymers there are polyesters, epoxy resins, silicon

and polyurethane (Thermosets vs. Thermoplastics, n.d.).

On the other hand, thermoplastic polymers can be reheated, remolded, and cooled as necessary

without causing any chemical changes. As a result of these physical and chemical properties,

thermoplastic materials have low melting points while thermoset products can withstand higher

temperature without loss of its structural integrity. Thermoplastic polymers are Linear polymers

with weak intermolecular forces, they are meltable at some point, they are characterized by their

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flexibility, swell and dissolve after certain period of time, by opposing it to pressure and

temperature they can be reformed such as polyethylene and polypropylene (Comparison of

Thermoset Versus Thermoplastic Materials, n.d.).

Figure 2. thermoplastics vs thermosets

Polyurethane is a plastic material, that can be found in many different forms. It can be either

rigid or flexible and is used in many applications in daily life. Polyurethanes were invented back

in the 1930s by Professor Dr. Otto Bayer (1902-1982). They are plastic polymers made by

combining diisocyanates and polyols. Where diol and diisocyanates enters reaction in order to

form the needed polyurethane,

Polyurethanes are versatile, modern and safe. They are used in a wide variety of applications to

create all manner of consumer and industrial products that play a crucial role in making our lives

more convenient, comfortable and environmentally friendly (What is polyurethane?, n.d.).

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The reaction in polyurethane occurs between an isocyanate which is Hexamethylene

diisocyanate and a polyol which is butanediol,

As the liquid isocyanate and polyol react to form the Polyurethane, the liquid mix becomes

increasingly viscous eventually forming a solid mass. The reaction is exothermic and therefore

heat is involved. Many commercial grades of isocyanates used for making Polyurethanes are

aromatic in nature. Each isocyanate will give different properties to the result, requiring different

curing systems. In the production of urethane foams, Excess isocyanate groups in the polymer

react with water or carboxylic acids to produce carbon dioxide blowing the foam while cross

linking takes place. (Polyurethanes - What Goes Into PUs?, 2001).

Figure 3. reaction mechanism

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Polyurethane has many applications in all fields, polyurethane foam can be used in various ways.

Flexible polyurethane foam is used as cushioning for a variety of consumer and commercial

products, including bedding, furniture, automotive interiors, carpet underlay and packaging.

Flexible foam can be created in almost any variety of shapes and firmness. It is light, durable,

supportive and comfortable. Rigid polyurethane and polyisocyanurate foams create one of the

world's most popular, energy-efficient and versatile insulations. These foams can significantly

cut energy costs while making commercial and residential properties more efficient and

comfortable (Polyurethane Applications, n.d.).

Figure 4. polyurethane foam

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Experimental procedure

Experimental materials

1- Three 50 ml measuring cylinders.

2- Two glass rods.

3- 250 ml beaker.

4- Commercial diol for polyurethane foam as hydroxyl terminated polyether containing water.

5- Commercial diisocyanate as toluene diisocyanate and methylene diisocyanate containing

catalyst and crosslinking agent.

Experimental procedure

1- Measure 20 ml of diol and put them in 250 ml beaker.

2- Prepare 3 containers, one pure, one with 2 grams CaCO3 and one with 1 gram silica.

3- Add 20 ml of the diisocyanate to the beaker and stir quickly.

4- The temperature will increase to about 600 degrees Celsius, and the foaming reaction

takes few minutes.

5- The foam will fill the beaker.

6- Remove the foam carefully from the beaker and use the tensile machine to evaluate the

stress-strain characteristics of the obtained foam in the 3 containers.

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Experimental results

The foams raised up in the container taking its shape just as shown in the following figure,

Figure 5. foam

Then the foam is cut into equal cubes as the following figure,

Figure 6. foam cube

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Then foam cubes are objected to tensile test in order to test its compressibility and strength such

as the following figure that shows cube before and after testing,

Then the results appears where the used load was 100 kN and set to 80% of the size then stop,

the compressive strength in pure foam was found to be 0.790 kN, CaCO3 was found to be 0.750

kN and silica was found to be 1.495 kN, then the graph of load-extension was plotted,

Figure 7. compression test

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Figure 8. pure foam load-extension graph

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Figure 9. calcium carbonate foam graph

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Figure 10. silica foam graph

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Discussion

During the experiment, foam was prepared in three methods: pure foam, CaCO 3 foam and silica

foam where the three methods were prepared using the same procedure using polyol and

diisocyanate where this result in 3 containers having foam with different properties but somehow

similar in shape and structure.

By testing compression for three samples of equal size and using the same parameters on the

device, it was found that the compressive strength of the pure foam is 0.790 kN, 0.750 kN in

calcium carbonate foam and 1.1495 kN in silica foam which shows that silica has the highest

compressive strength among all filler and that’s why it is used by less amount than that of the

calcium carbonate.

Rigid polyurethane foam (PUF) having different fillers such as precipitated silica (SiO2) and

precipitated calcium carbonate (CaCO3) were prepared by blowing with distilled water. The

effect of filler loading on different properties of foam was studied. The properties such as

density, mechanical, morphological, water absorption, thermal conductivity and thermal

properties of the filled foam were compared with the pure. The density of silica filled foam

decreases with an increase in the filler loading. In case of calcium carbonate the density initially

decreases with filler loading, but after a certain concentration of fillers there is an increase in

density with filler content. The mechanical properties such as compressive stress at 10% strain,

compressive modulus and hardness of the filled foam decrease in comparison with the pure

foam, due to the reaction between isocyanate and surface functional group present in filler. In all

cases, the water absorption of the foam increases with the increase in filler loading, due to the

decrease in the closed cell content.

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This shows that the value of compressive strength of calcium carbonate foam should’ve been

higher but an error may have occurred in the preparation process which caused the variation in

the results.

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Conclusion

The nature of polyurethanes allows them to be adapted to solve challenging problems, to be

molded into unusual shapes and to enhance industrial and consumer products. Polyurethane is a

plastic material, which exists in various forms. It can be tailored to be either rigid or flexible.

Polyurethanes are prepared by reacting polyols with diisocyanates or polymeric isocyanates and

some fillers may be added to show more properties of the foam to be more applicable, where

these steps were performed in lab producing different types of foam. Three different types of

foam where prepared, the first was pure, second had CaCO3 and the third has silica as filler

where each of them should a certain compressive strength when it got mechanically tested in lab

where pure foam had compressive strength of 0.790 kN, calcium carbonate had 0.750 kN and

finally silica had 1.495 kN. Where this shows the affect of different fillers addition on the foam

where it changes its application making its uses more various and different.

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Sources of error

In this experiment, some errors may have occurred in lab causing errors in the properties of

foam, the used materials may be not pure or having defects in its structure which may cause

errors in structure and properties of the formed foam. Human errors may be found in wrong

measurements of used quantities where it may be less or more than the required quantity for

producing the perfect foam. Stirring may take longer time than usual making errors in the

produced foam. Also, surrounding factors may affect the experiment such as temperature

changes where the human errors can be avoided by making sure that all used quantities are right

and being careful in following the procedure in order to obtain best results.

An error may have occurred in the CaCO3 sample causing its compressive strength to be lower

than pure foam where the error may be in the calcium carbonate itself or in the process of

preparation.

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References

1. Britannica, T. E. (2021, october 22). polymer. Retrieved from Britannica:

https://www.britannica.com/science/polymer

2. Comparison of Thermoset Versus Thermoplastic Materials. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.thomasnet.com/articles/plastics-rubber/thermoset-vs-thermoplastics/

3. Polyurethane Applications. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.americanchemistry.com/industry-groups/center-for-the-polyurethanes-

industry-cpi/applications-benefits/polyurethane-applications#:~:text=Flexible

%20polyurethane%20foam%20is%20used,%2C%20durable%2C%20supportive%20and

%20comfortable.

4. Polyurethanes - What Goes Into PUs? (2001). Retrieved from

https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=218

5. Thermosets vs. Thermoplastics. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://romeorim.com/thermoset-

vs-thermoplastics/

6. What is polyurethane? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.polyurethanes.org/en/what-is-

it/#What_is_polyurethane

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